Nottinghamshire's crime commissioner Caroline Henry has been branded hypocritical after she launched an accountability board to scrutinise the police and 'increase transparency and openness on behalf of the public' the very same month she pleaded guilty to five speeding offences. The Conservative commissioner was caught speeding five times and will be sentenced in July.
Commissioner Henry announced she had launched the board on May 24, three weeks to the day she appeared at Nottingham Magistrates' Court, and she will be responsible for holding to account the chief constable of Nottinghamshire Police, Craig Guildford, to make sure an effective public service is delivered.
In a press release the commissioner says the meetings will occur monthly and will be attended by the chief constable alongside his deputy. The meetings of the 'accountability board' will enable commissioner Henry to "scrutinise the force’s performance including prevention and detection of crimes, how effectively it responds to crime including management of calls to its control room, and support for victims including those who are vulnerable such as children and young people".
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Commissioner Henry said: “My accountability board meetings are one of the many ways I challenge and hold the chief constable and Nottinghamshire Police to account for the quality of policing service that local people receive. But they are also an opportunity to hear good news stories and to provide support to the force when it is needed.
“I want to build trust and confidence in policing and ensure decision-making is open and transparent. Nottinghamshire is a safe county and I am determined to keep it that way by maximising every penny of our resources to deliver an effective and efficient service that meets the expectations of the public.”
However the launch of the very first meeting on May 24, exactly three weeks to the day she first appeared in court, has been heavily criticised. Alex Norris, Labour MP for Nottingham North who has before sat on the police and crime panel for the county, told Nottinghamshire Live: "It is important that the police and crime commissioner holds the police to account.
"However, the hypocrisy of Caroline Henry doing so the same month as having plead guilty to multiple crimes shows how untenable her position is."
And Labour councillor for the Ernehale ward, David Ellis, the current vice-chairman of the panel, added: "It does make it difficult to try and ask the chief constable about what he is doing about speeding, for instance."
The 52-year-old, who was elected in May 2021 and is the wife of Broxtowe's Conservative MP Darren Henry, was caught speeding in four locations around Nottinghamshire in March, May and June 2021. Her lawyer, Noel Philo, had argued sentencing should be dealt with by a district judge and two of the incidents should be challenged under ‘special reasons’.
The court heard in a written statement commissioner Henry was “embarrassed and ashamed” and she will now be sentenced by a district judge on July 19. She could face 15 points being added to her licence, which can result in a ban from driving of a minimum of six months.
The independent chairwoman of the police and crime panel and magistrate of 10 years, Christine Goldstraw, had already labelled the news "deeply disappointing". But speaking of the launch of the board she told Nottinghamshire Live: "I have heard in the past that she was thinking of setting up some sort of board.
"I suppose my first thoughts are in a sense it is not unreasonable and she still has to exercise her authority. Until the court case has concluded and we know all of the facts and details, and whatever the decision the judge makes, it is difficult and inappropriate to comment on how people will feel.
"She must therefore carry on the responsibility of a commissioner because she is still in post."
Responding to the concerns raised over the launch of the board commissioner Henry's office said: "‘The police and crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire continues to focus upon discharging the duties of the office to which she was elected in May 2021. The matter heard at court on 3rd May 2022 remains a live case in which she is involved as a private citizen."
