Two Gwent police officers have earned hundreds of thousands of pounds while being suspended for two-and-a-half years.
Acting assistant chief constable Mark Budden and detective chief superintendent Mark Warrender were suspended following incident at a retirement party Cardiff in June 2019 for former Gwent Chief Constable Julian Williams.
Chief Superintendent Mark Warrender was suspended an alleged sexual assault against a female officer with acting assistant chief constable Mark Budden also suspended for alleged misconduct.
Avon and Somerset Police are carried out an independent investigation into the allegations of a criminal offence made against both men. Following an investigation ,which was directed by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), a file was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration in 2020.
However in March of 2021 the CPS said they would not be pressing charges. A CPS spokesman said: "Following a referral of evidence by the IOPC regarding the alleged conduct on two senior police officers, the CPS has decided that our legal test is not met to charge them with any offence.
"We considered the offence of sexual assault against one officer and misconduct in public office and the improper exercise of police powers against the second officer."
WalesOnline has approached the IOPC who said that further disciplinary action would be taken by Gwent Police.
When Gwent Police were approached a spokesman for the force said: "Proceedings are still under consideration".
All officers, who are suspended pending an outcome of an investigation, are suspended on full pay. This is in line with police regulations."
So how much tax payers money would both men have received during their 30 months suspended on full pay?
We don't know the exact pay of the two men but we can make an educated guess based on their rank.
Detective chief superintendent Mark Warrender, who was the head of CID for Gwent Police, would have been on between £86,970 - £91,749 a year according to the Police Superintendent Association. This means he could have been paid a maximum £229,372 during the time he has been suspended.
Acting assistant chief constable Mark Budden's pay is harder to work out as he was not permanently in this role. However we do know from the Police Remuneration Review body that the upper bands for that rank is about £116,000 meaning he could have earned a maximum of £290,000 over the 30 months suspended. If he earned the average for an officer of that rank would have earned approximately £281,250.
Gwent Police recently apologised to two women officers who had been abused by Gwent Police officer PC Clarke Joslyn.
Both Sarah and Jodie (names changed to protect their identity) told WalesOnline in in 2019 that the force was a “boys club” which “closes ranks” to protect its own at the expense of women.
Joslyn’s disciplinary hearing heard Jodie and Sarah are not the only women PC Joslyn has been accused of being physically abusive, domineering and controlling” towards. You can read the full story here.
