CALLS have been made to suspend the Irishman leading one of Britain’s largest police forces while he is investigated over alleged mishandling of a suspected paedophile.
The police watchdog announced on Tuesday that Sir Peter Fahy, the chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, is to be interviewed under criminal caution as part of their investigation.
The inquiry surrounds allegations his force allowed a teenager to enter the home of a suspected paedophile as the suspect was being watched by undercover officers.
Reacting to the news, two local MPs called on Tony Lloyd, Manchester’s police and crime commissioner, to suspend Sir Peter, whose parents come from Galway and Dublin.
Graham Stringer, Labour MP for Blackley and Broughton, said the public would not be able to have confidence in the senior officer as long as the investigation hung over his head.
He added: "All professionals get suspended in this sort of situation.”
Meanwhile, Mr Stringer’s party colleague Simon Danczuk, the MP for Rochdale, said: "If any frontline officer were facing serious allegations like this they would be suspended immediately, and it should not be different for the chief constable."
Their comments came after Mr Lloyd, who is also second-generation Irish, said he took legal advice before deciding there were no grounds to suspend Sir Peter. His stance was backed by Jim Dobbin, Labour MP for Heywood in Middleton, who said he had “respect” for the PCC’s view.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission announced that it is also investigating other senior GMP officers over a series of allegations.
The move came after a serving officer contacted IPCC. As well as the alleged mishandling of a suspected paedophile, the whistle-blower claimed GMP officers allowed armed robbers who were under surveillance to attack a pub and mishandled the disposal of body parts belonging to victims of serial killer Dr Harold Shipman.
