THE deputy chief constable of one of the region’s forces clashed with the national police watchdog last night after being found guilty of discreditable conduct.

Adam Briggs, of North Yorkshire Police, said he was considering an appeal after the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) appeared to contradict itself over the outcome of a hearing into his conduct during an illfated recruitment drive.

Mr Briggs faced a disciplinary hearing last week into claims that senior officers helped family members in a recruitment drive in February.

Following the meeting of North Yorkshire Police Authority’s professional standards committee, on December 7, Mr Briggs said he had been cleared of five of the six charges against him.

Yesterday, the IPCC, which carried out the investigation, released a statement contradicting that belief.

It was initially reported that Mr Briggs was cleared of all but one charge of misconduct – that Mr Briggs failed to challenge the chief constable, Grahame Maxwell, when he should have done.

Yesterday, the IPCC revealed that a charge of discreditable conduct had also been upheld, namely that he acted “in a manner likely to bring discredit upon and undermine public confidence in the police service”.

Mr Briggs said he was surprised at the revelation, adding that he would consider an appeal once he had read the judgement of Merseyside chief constable John Murphy, who chaired the meeting.

The misunderstanding appears to have stemmed from the fact that the IPCC released only a brief statement following last week’s meeting, saying it could not, at that stage, go into more detail, to avoid prejudicing Mr Maxwell’s hearing, which will be heard early next year.

Mr Maxwell faces a more serious charge relating to the same incident.

The IPCC said: “The IPCC is now in receipt of the written decision from the misconduct meeting held in relation to allegations of misconduct against Adam Briggs.

“The IPCC believes it important that the formal outcome is published to give clarity to the issue, due to some confusion following the hearing.

The IPCC issued a statement following the meeting, announcing that a case of misconduct had been upheld against DCC Briggs and he was to face management advice.

“A statement was then issued that evening by representatives of Mr Briggs, expressing his relief that he had been cleared of five of the six matters he faced.

“This understandably led to confusion.”

The meeting found Mr Briggs had not broken the rules in relation to the following matters:

● Honesty and integrity;

● Abuse of powers and authority;

● Unfair and unlawful discrimination;

● Failure to abide by force policy and/or giving unlawful instructions.

Mr Briggs said: “I have not yet read the written judgement and I am very surprised to hear the suggestion that a second aspect, one of discreditable conduct, was also upheld.

“If this is the case, I do not accept this finding and I will consider an appeal after I have had the opportunity to read the full written judgement.”