SENIOR police officers used force accommodation to carry on "illicit relations" to the point the flats were jokingly nicknamed "love pads", a tribunal has heard.

Rumours of an alleged affair between former Northumbria Police chief constable Mike Craik and Assistant Chief Constable Carolyn Peacock, which was said to have led him to be punched by her husband Jim at a barbecue, spread so far that even local solicitors had heard the story, the hearing was told.

Glossy posters of Mr Craik displayed in Northumbria Police stations were defaced with marker pen, showing him with a "blacked over" eye, retired Pc Bryn Jones said in a statement.

Mr Jones said it was long suspected senior officers used the flats behind their headquarters to conduct illicit relations, to the point they were called "love pads".

He gave evidence to the North Shields employment tribunal in support of Denise Aubrey, the force's director of legal services who was sacked for gross misconduct in 2014.

She was accused of gossiping about the alleged affair, after providing confidential advice to the police chief about libel.

But retired chief constable Sue Sim has told the tribunal she was wrong to want rid of Ms Aubrey, 54, having now seen the evidence.

Assistant Chief Constable Greg Vant and Mr Craik's secretary Juliet Bains were also said to have had an affair, the tribunal has been told.

Mr Jones, who was a Police Federation representative, said in his statement: "I can say categorically that as far as I am concerned the relationships were far from confidential and it would be inconceivable that rank and file officers within the Respondent force were not aware of them.

"I would also suggest that matters were very much in the public domain being the subject of gossip by local criminal solicitors."

He said "many" officers were summoned to briefings in late June or early July 2007 by their shift inspectors where they were told the barbecue incident at Mr Craik's house had not occurred.

"In fact rumours were already rife about this as I understand a number of force posters of Mr Craik had been damaged with one of his eyes blacked over with a marker pen - referring to the fact he had been involved in a fight," he said.

Staff were warned anyone caught doing this would be treated as "having committed criminal damage", Mr Jones said.

Officers were warned not to look up details of the alleged incident on the police log as they might be held to account by the professional standards department, and "any search was in any event pointless as the incident did not take place and there was no log of it", he said.

Mr Jones said it was thought Mr Craik heard rumours his secretary was having an affair with Mr Vant.

In his statement, he said: "There was also a suggestion Mr Craik was furious about this. Apparently not only was it known that he was himself fond of Ms Bains but also that Mr Vant, when confronted about the matter had lied to him and had apparently taken advantage of her with his rank.

"Again, and I know this was widely known by many of my colleagues because it was discussed, many were particularly angered at what was seen as a member of senior management 'getting away with it'."

Soon after, Mr Vant joined Merseyside Police, Mr Jones said. He said to his knowledge there was no question of Mr Vant being disciplined.

"This would contrast sharply with my experiences as a Federation representative having seen far worse consequences for more junior officers that had behaved in a not dissimilar way."

He added: "Another factor that no doubt caused considerable ill feeling towards the rank and file staff was the use of police premises to carry on his exploits.

"There were accommodation facilities at Ponteland behind the Respondent's headquarters and it was long suspected that this was frequently used by those in senior management to conduct illicit relations - Mr Vant being among them.

"This became such a joke that they were nicknamed the 'love pads'."

Under cross-examination by Angus Moon QC for the police, Mr Jones said retired colleagues still laughed about the alleged affair involving their former chief constable, asking each other: "Can you remember about the incident that never happened?"

He said the gossip about senior officers was a source of "great humour" for staff.

He told the tribunal: "Officers on the ground are under a lot of pressure with discipline hanging over them.

"When something like this occurs it becomes quite rife with gossip.

"It is quite uplifting for people on the ground floor, sad as it may be."

The hearing was adjourned until Thursday.

  •  A COUPLE caught up in the Northumbria Police employment tribunal allegations have failed in their attempt to have their anonymity restored.

Retired Assistant Chief Constable Greg Vant made a representation to the tribunal judge urging him to reimpose a reporting restriction, lifted last week, which would prevent him and his partner Juliet Bains from being named by the media.

During the employment tribunal brought by Denise Aubrey, the force's former director of legal services, Mr Vant and Ms Bains, who was once secretary for the Chief Constable, were said to have had an affair at work.

The couple denied this in a statement handed to the media on Monday, saying they only got together when they had both left the force.

And Mr Vant was allowed to address the tribunal, saying: "There was no harassment, there was no evidence of harassment and no complaint of harassment, we were simply friends.

"There was no affair between us at the time, there was no evidence of an affair at the time, and there was absolutely, definitely no physical contact between either of us in the workplace."

Both were long-term servants of Northumbria Police, he said, and "conducted ourselves with the utmost professionalism at work at all times".

He applied for the Judge Humphrey Forrester to reimpose the restriction, saying that press reports had had a severe impact on their life, and that they were based on untested allegations put before the tribunal.

He did not say Ms Aubrey was lying but stated the allegations about them were based on rumours and speculation.

When the judge and panel turned the application down after some deliberation, Mr Vant told the court: "I am astonished by it to be honest, in the light of everything I have said today."