A Metropolitan Police commander who wrote the forces anti-drugs strategy smoked cannabis every day and was ‘never sober’ at home, a tribunal has heard.
Commander Julian Bennett is said to have smoked joints before breakfast and work, where he would be praised by senior colleagues.
He is also accused of taking LSD at a party and magic mushrooms while on holiday in France.
Sheila Gomes, a nurse who lived with the officer between October and December 2019, told the hearing in Southwark, south London: ‘He was never sober at home.
‘He has to drink, and he has to smoke. Julian Bennett was most of the time not sober. He was never sober.’
She also claimed he was ‘in and out’ buying the drug but she did not know where it came from.
In a text to a friend, she claimed he could be ‘part of a small mafia or bribed by a dealer, or be a big dealer, or he is a big dealer’.
Bennett faces three allegations of gross misconduct.
Ms Gomes earlier told the tribunal the flat was so full of weed smoke it was ‘like an Amsterdam coffee shop’.
The former tenant claimed she paid £640 a month for a room but had to leave because of Mr Bennett’s habit, which left her unable to leave clothes out to dry.
She told the panel she believed he was a lawyer rather than a senior police officer until after she stopped living with him and had never seen him in uniform.
Ms Gomes said: ‘It would start early in the morning, before breakfast and before he would leave and go to work. Sometimes when he was arriving at home it was there. I never saw him eat before going to work.’
But Mr Bennett’s barrister John Beggs KC challenged her on Tuesday, telling the hearing she is a ‘gold digger’ and ‘serial litigator’ seeking a payout.
Following an exchange about the officer being praised at work, he told her: ‘You are a liar.’ She replied: ‘I am not.’ He asked: ‘Or a fantasist?’ She repeated: ‘I am not.’
He suggested: ‘You are just making it up as you go along?’ Ms Gomes said: ‘I didn’t.’ Mr Beggs said: ‘You are hoping this would be another bit of litigation or a book you can write to make money.’
When the witness insisted she had asked to remain anonymous, the barrister put it to her: ‘I am suggesting you are a gold digger; you are looking for money.’
She replied: ‘No.’
Mr Beggs went on: ‘You do sue people.’
She replied: ‘I don’t sue people.’
He asked: ‘You are currently involved in a litigation. It is not a matter of confidentiality that you are currently litigating.’ She confirmed: ‘I am.’
The KC asked if she had previously litigated, and she replied that she had done so in Portugal, where she was born.
She was also said to have used ‘racist, homophobic and vulgar’ language, including derogatory references to black patients at the hospital where she worked, which Mr Beggs suggested pointed to her ‘nasty’ character.
Mr Bennett, who has served in the force since 1976, wrote the force’s drugs strategy for 2017-21 as a commander for territorial policing.
The document, called Dealing With The Impact Of Drugs On Communities, set up plans to raise ‘awareness of the impact of drug misuse’.
Freedom of information requests showed Mr Bennett presided over 74 police misconduct hearings involving 90 officers between June 2010 and February 2012.
He reportedly earned the nickname ‘Sacker’ due to his tough approach to discipline, with 56 of those officers subsequently dismissed – more than three quarters.
Mr Bennett chaired 69 hearings during that time and two officers were dismissed for drugs misuse, the figures showed.
He is accused of breaching the force’s professional standards for discreditable conduct three times, honesty and integrity twice and orders and instructions once.
His actions are alleged to have amounted to gross misconduct.
He denies the allegations and has been suspended on full pay since July 2021.
The tribunal continues.
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