Legal process begins to dismiss suspended South Yorkshire Police chief

Mr Crompton was pulled off his post as South Yorkshire Police’s Chief Constable three weeks ago by the county’s police and crime commissioner, Dr Alan Billings.

The commissioner has now begun the legal process to dismiss Mr Crompton.

A spokeswoman for Dr Billings said his office “has now entered a legal process and we won’t be commenting further until it is concluded”.

Mr Crompton was suspended a day after the Hillsborough inquests concluded 96 Liverpool fans were unlawfully killed and cleared supporters of any blame for the disaster.

South Yorkshire Police has since been criticised for its “adversarial” approach to the hearings.

A statement on the PCC’s website said: “Following the PCC’s decision to suspend Chief Constable David Crompton on April 27 under Section 38 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, there is now a statutory process to follow before a final decision is made by the PCC as to whether he is going to call Mr Crompton to retire or resign.”

This process includes asking the Chief Inspector of Constabulary for a view, giving the Chief Constable a written explanation of his proposed decision, which then responded to, and asking the local Police and Crime Panel for its recommendation.

The panel must hold a private scrutiny hearing which both the PCC and the Chief Constable are entitled to attend, after which the panel’s recommendation is published and a final decision can be made.

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