A Welsh police force where three high-ranking officers were found to have committed gross misconduct has refused to answer significant questions about the case. Three senior officers at Gwent Police were found to have committed behaviour amounting to gross misconduct.
The outcome of the hearing, from which the public and media were excluded, was made public in early September and you can read the full details here. After the lengthy misconduct proceedings former Gwent Police chief superintendent Mark Warrender was found to have committed gross misconduct by "inappropriate touching" while he and two senior colleagues were found to have held an "inappropriate conversation" with a more junior member of staff as a police social event and “failed to challenge and report” the alleged improper behaviour of others in that conversation. Warrender and colleagues chief superintendent Marc Budden, who at one stage held the role of acting assistant chief constable, and chief inspector Paul Staniforth faced allegations of gross misconduct which they each denied. Both Budden and Warrender had been suspended on full pay since the summer of 2019 and it’s estimated they have received a combined gross total of at least £500,000 during this time. It is unknown whether Staniforth had been suspended prior to the conclusion of the hearing.
Warrender, according to the summary of the misconduct hearing provided by the force, retired from Gwent Police on September 2, 2022 – just days before and all three men were found to have committed gross misconduct. Budden and Staniforth were dismissed without notice while the panel determined that he would have been dismissed without notice had he not ceased to be a police officer. They will also all be placed on the barred list.
