A senior Police Scotland gun cop who was blasted for following pornographic accounts on his public Twitter has been moved to a different department, the Daily Record understands.
Supt Tony Beveridge was the head of armed policing for Scotland when the Record revealed he was engaging with a number of X-rated accounts, including @Chavbabes and @BritHotties, on his public Twitter profile.
Many of these accounts linked to paid-for services and webcam videos.
Beveridge was forced to admit that his behaviour was “not appropriate” and sources from within the firearms department told the Record his actions were “objectifying to women”.
Following the Record’s story, it is understood that Beveridge has been moved from his role as head of firearms to Police Scotland’s Operation Talla, the force’s response to Covid-19.
Creepy Beveridge was found following accounts sharing extremely explicit images on Twitter and links to AdmireMe.VIP and OnlyFans accounts where followers can pay to see nude pictures and videos.
Both OnlyFans and AdmireMe.VIP are subscription run account services where users can pay a monthly fee for ‘exclusive’, ‘private’ content.
We told how the accounts were unfollowed by Beveridge minutes after the Record approached him for comment.
A firearms officer told the Record at the time that Beveridge’s social media behaviour was at odds with Police Scotland’s work to encourage more women into firearms – an area where just 10% of officers are female.
They said: “I just think it sends totally the wrong message about his views on women. It flies in the face of all the work people are doing to encourage women to consider becoming firearms officers.
“Male colleagues are also putting that work in to recruit women but the Head of Armed Policing just sees women as objects.
“It totally sets the wrong tone for an area of the police where women are so under represented.”
Sources say the move was made directly after Beveridge’s Twitter actions were revealed by the Daily Record.
One said: “I assume he got moved to OP Talla because of the article.
“They refused to do anything official about it though.”
Speaking of the relocation of Beveridge, our source said: “There is more than adequate provisions under the regulations and police fire and reform act to take action against these people if they wanted to. The fact that he didn't technically break the law by what he did, doesn't mean he didn't breach the regulations.”
Another source told the Record: “Some have been of the opinion he should go. He has been moved elsewhere but I don’t know if lessons will be learned.”
Speaking of Tony Beveridge’s actions, Chief Superintendent Louise Skelton, Head of Specialist Services, said: "This is not a criminal or conduct matter, however the officer involved recognises that his actions were not appropriate."
Police Scotland said they would not comment on individual employment matters.
