London Mayor Backs Gay Cannabis Cop

March 19, 2002

London’s Mayor Ken Livingstone has called for the reinstatement of Commander Brian Paddick, who has been moved from his job pending an inquiry into allegations he smoked cannabis.

Livingstone, the Dean of Lambeth and a number of high-profile signatories have called for Paddick’s reinstatement.

The Mayor told Carlton television: "Brian Paddick is popular and does have the support of the community in Brixton. I think, whoever it was going to be, the first prominent gay police officer was going to get this and it`s, I think, a lot of a witch-hunt."

Canon Richard Truss, the Dean of Lambeth, told the Evening Standard: "I think that so far Commander Paddick has proved an inspiring leader of the police in Lambeth. He`s also won great respect in the community at large.”

The Dean added: "I think to lose him for factors from his personal life would be tragic and it would also give out the wrong messages. It would suggest that we want policing to be the same as it was, which would be backward-looking. I think it`s tragic that many people - especially in some sectors of the media - try to tie this up with his homosexuality.

Meanwhile, Richard Littlejohn, one of the journalists accused of conducting a homophobic witchhunt against Paddick, continued his attack in the Sun. He accused the police force of pandering to homosexuals, and said: “It is not the newspapers which have made an issue of Paddick’s sexuality. He has. Paddick flaunts it.”

Littlejohn remarked: “It’s come to this in a few short years. Not so long ago, the Old Bill used to stake out public toilets in an attempt to arrest and deter men using the place as single-sex knocking shops. Pop into the gents’ today and you’re more likely to be accosted by a divisional commander on the pull."

The Metropolitan Police Authority emphasised that Paddick had not been suspended, but had been "moved to another role whilst the investigation is carried out".

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