Cdr Chris Greany will not face possible censure arising from IPCC inquiry after notifying force that he was leaving

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A senior police officer who is being investigated for his alleged involvement in destroying files held on a Green party peer is to retire on Friday, meaning he will avoid any possible disciplinary action.



Commander Chris Greany was head of the secretive Scotland Yard unit that monitors political campaigners at the time it allegedly destroyed files it had compiled on the political activities of Jenny Jones.

Greany is being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) over claims that the national domestic extremism and disorder intelligence unit destroyed the files on Jones in June 2014.



He is now the police’s national coordinator for economic crime, working for the City of London police. He is also a spokesman for the police on issues relating to identity fraud and cyber crime.

Announcing his retirement, City of London police praised Greany for his “impeccable policing career”. In certain cases, the police have the power to prevent officers from retiring in order to face disciplinary action.

Jones said Greany’s retirement “would mean he can avoid potential disciplinary action. It’s not fair if the commander of the unit can walk away leaving the junior officers, who may have been under his direct orders, to be left to account for any misconduct. Greany must not be allowed to escape justice.”

Why did the police have files on my ‘domestic extremism’ in the first place? | Jenny Jones Read more

The City of London police said Greany notified the force on 17 January of his intention to retire after a 30-year career.

“At the time Commander Greany decided to retire neither he nor the City of London police had been notified of any IPCC investigation being conducted into Commander Greany,” the force said. “The City of London police were informed of the IPCC investigation on 8 February.

“The City of London police took legal advice and consulted with the IPCC before reaching the current conclusion that as Commander Greany had already submitted his notice of retirement and his final day of service had already been agreed, it would not be appropriate to seek to prevent his retirement at this time.”

Greany, who worked mainly in counterterrorism and intelligence, did not wish to comment.



The claims were originally made by David Williams, a whistleblower working for the unit. He alleged that five officers in the unit had improperly destroyed the papers in what he called a “highly irregular” coverup.

The Metropolitan police have said documents were destroyed on the day alleged by Williams as a part of a legitimate programme to improve record-keeping. The force said it could not establish if the papers related to Jones.

The IPCC said its investigation was looking at both disciplinary and criminal allegations.



It is also investigating allegations that the unit used hackers to illegally access the private emails of hundreds of political campaigners and journalists.



The allegations, revealed last week, were made by an anonymous individual who said the unit worked with Indian police, who in turn used hackers to illegally obtain the passwords of email accounts of campaigners, reporters and press photographers.

• If you would like to pass on information in confidence, you can send a message via the Guardian’s SecureDrop service (see how here).