Dossier on ex-Chief Constable of Tayside stolen

The documents are understood to contain details of allegations made against Justine Curran. Picture: Phil Wilkinson

• The documents are understood to contain details of allegations against Justine Curran

• Last year the ex-Chief Constable was accused of sending texts to her former PA abut the size of a colleague’s manhood

• The dossier was being kept at the Tayside Division headquarters in Dundee

The stolen documents are understood to contain details of allegations made against former Chief Constable Justine Curran who was accused last year of sending text messages to her former PA about the size of a colleague’s manhood.

The stolen dossier is believed to have been compiled Angela Wilson, the Assistant Chief Constable of Tayside before the creation of Police Scotland, and relates to a series of allegations of unprofessional behaviour made against former Chief Constable Curran and her deputy Gordon Scobbie. The dossier was being kept in the executive corridor at the Tayside Division headquarters in Bell Street in Dundee.

Ms Curran was appointed the new Chief Constable for Humberside Police earlier this year after being passed over in the appointment for the top post in Scotland’s new unified police force. She had been Chief Constable of Tayside Police since February 2010.

A spokesman for Police Scotland said today: “Police Scotland are conducting an inquiry into a theft from within Tayside division headquarters in Dundee. As this is an ongoing investigation, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”

Police sources have confirmed that officers from outside Tayside have been brought in to head the investigation into the theft of the secret files. The officers have been deployed to Dundee from the specialist crime division of Police Scotland.

Last year Ms Curran faced two separate enquires by the local police authority into her conduct. In July last year the board pledged their supprt for Ms Curran following revelations she had sent an inappropriate text about a male colleague to her former personal assistant.

A spokesman for Tayside Police said at the time that the correspondence between Ms Curran, a 44-year-old mother-of-two, and her former personal assistant “may not have been appropriately professional” but no disciplinary action was being taken against her.

A month later the area’s police board gave their full backing to Ms Curran following a fresh investigation into a series of anonymous allegations about her conduct made by an anonymous group who claimed to be serving officers within the Tayside force.

Councillor Jimmy Black, the convener of the board, announced no action was to be taken against Ms Curran, ruling that there was “no case to answer”. He said at the time: “In rejecting the claims, we found it extremely disappointing that people chose to send anonymous letters to the media, rather than going through well-established and transparent grievance procedures, of which Tayside Police is an excellent practitioner. Such actions only serve to diminish the reputation of a high achieving police force, its officers and staff.”

Born in Sheffield, Ms Curran joined Greater Manchester Police in 1988 and served in a number of posts before moving to Merseyside Police, where she became the operating superintendent for Toxteth.

She returned to Manchester in 2003 where she spent the next six years.

She was appointed deputy chief constable of Tayside Police in February 2009, taking the top a year later when Kevin Mathieson stepped down.