We have reported this previously but earlier reports only hinted at cannabis use.
The Daily Mail is now reporting…
Cmdr Bennett is alleged to have taken cannabis, LSD and magic mushrooms
His hearing has been adjourned after his lawyer claimed it would not be ‘fair’
A Met police leader who chaired force disciplinary hearings and wrote its current drug strategy has been accused of taking cannabis, LSD and magic mushrooms by his own misconduct panel.
Commander Julian Bennett took the three drugs while on holiday in France between February 2019 and July 2020, his case heard today.
Bennett is also accused of refusing to provide a drug sample on July 21, 2020, after being informed there was reasonable cause to suspect that he had used cannabis.
He allegedly then claimed he had taken CBD (cannabidiol) for a medical condition with his face as a reason for refusing – an excuse the charge says he ‘knew to be untrue’.
The hearing also heard that a photo sent on WhatsApp showing cannabis on a table had been submitted as evidence.
Hearing chairman James Tumbridge said he would be adjourning proceedings on Monday and rose from the panel to determine a new date, saying: ‘It might just not be doable to do this hearing this week.’
Bennett, who faces dismissal from the force for gross misconduct over the alleged drug use, wrote the MPS drug strategy for 2017-2021 as a commander for territorial policing.
The document, titled Dealing with the impact of drugs on communities, set out plans to raise ‘awareness of the dangers of drug misuse’.
Bennett also presided over 74 misconduct hearings, involving 90 officers, between June 2010 and February 2012, according to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request lodged in 2021.
Out of these hearings involving Bennett, 56 officers were dismissed – more than 75%.
A further FOI request in 2020 found that Bennett chaired 69 of the hearings during the time period and that two officers were dismissed for drugs misuse.
Bennett has been suspended on full pay since July 2021, pending the investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s directorate of professional standards.
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