Police Scotland new chief constable Jo Farrell apologises for using police car to take her home to England during Storm Babet

Jo Farrell – Police Scotland’s new chief constable – had only been in the role for less than two weeks when the incident happened

Scotland’s new chief constable has apologised and accepted she made an “error of judgment” when she used a police car to take her home to England as Storm Babet lashed the UK last month.

Jo Farrell became Scotland’s top police officer in October, and prior to taking on the job she was chief constable of Durham Constabulary in the north of England.

But she has already had to apologise, after she used a police vehicle to take her home when the train she had planned to travel on was cancelled.

Chief Constable Jo Farrell. Photo Credit: Allan Bovill

The incident happened on the evening of October 20, with the Sun newspaper reporting a Police Scotland car made the trip with an off-duty police officer behind the wheel.

The journey is about 120 miles, with the vehicle travelling from Edinburgh to Northumberland. A senior male officer was also reportedly dropped off at Gateshead as part of the journey.

Ms Farrell confirmed she had requested her office “arrange for a car to drive me home to the Northumberland area after work”.

In a statement issued by Police Scotland, she added: “I was unable to complete the journey by train as services had been cancelled and my own police vehicle was unavailable. I have apologised for this error of judgment.”

Watchdogs at the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) confirmed chairman Martyn Evans has raised the matter with Ms Farrell.

An SPA spokesperson said: “The authority is aware the chief constable used a police vehicle following the cancellation of a scheduled train journey. The chair has discussed this with the chief constable who has apologised. The authority considers the matter closed.”