Sex attacks officer set to lose police pension

A POLICEMAN who was jailed for a series of "despicable" sex attacks could be stripped of his £7,000-a-year pension, after a decision by Strathclyde Police to launch a legal challenge.

Dean Stewart, 35, of Paisley, was convicted of two indecent assaults and molesting a girl aged 15. Chief Constable Willie Rae has moved to block his police pension, saying that the former PC had violated his position of trust.

Mr Rae said: "Ex-constable Stewart's offences are considered to be despicable and evil.

"His actions cannot be seen as anything other than a complete violation of his oath of office as a constable and a betrayal of the trust placed in him."

He said the former constable's actions had damaged the "fundamental structure of confidence which society must place in the police service".

The chief constable continued: "It is impossible properly to comprehend the full impact on ex-constable Stewart's victims in knowing their violator was a serving police officer and was actively abusing the powers and privileges of his office to commit those appalling offences."

A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police confirmed that the application for a certificate had been made to the Scottish Parliament.

She said: "Strathclyde Police is asking the joint police board to contact the Scottish Parliament to ask for Scottish ministers to issue a certificate to confirm that ex-constable Stewart's conduct is liable to lead to a serious loss of confidence in the police service.

"If a certificate is issued, the joint police board may seek to forfeit all or some of Mr Stewart's police pension for a period or forever."

Stewart's trial at the High Court in Glasgow was the longest of its kind in Scottish legal history. He was accused of three rapes and ten indecent assaults between 1998 and 2004.

Jim Duffy, the chairman of Strathclyde Police Federation, said Stewart's crimes had undermined the work of his former colleagues.

He added: "We can well understand why the board would want to go down this route. The conduct of this one individual has made the jobs of the other 15,000 officers in Scotland more difficult.

"The federation shares the disappointment of the public that an officer has failed the high standards rightly expected and that his position of trust within the community has been abused."