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Met chief 'kept quiet about suicide officer's affairs'
Jack Lefley, Evening Standard22.08.08
Sir Ian Blair was accused of failing to disclose the troubled personal life of a chief constable who committed suicide.
It is alleged that the Met chief and other senior officers kept quiet details of the turbulent private life of Mike Todd when he was appointed Chief Constable of Greater Manchester.
Mr Todd, 50, whose body was found on Snowdon in March, was given immaculate references when he went for the Manchester post. The inquiry into his death has been told that officers in London were aware of his extramarital affairs when he worked at the Yard but did not tell Manchester police.
It is thought that the Metropolitan Police Authority is putting together a report on a corruption inquiry into a civilian worker in 1999 that first uncovered-proof of Mr Todd's affairs. The new allegations relate to a former Met employee, Tracy Clarke, who had a relationship with Mr Todd, then a deputy assistant commissioner.
Ms Clarke, who described the affair as "tactile but not sexual", was the subject of an investigation in 1999 because it was thought she was handing information to a criminal. She has admitted that she was involved with Mr Todd but the inquiry found no evidence of criminal links. Ms Clarke launched a sexual discrimination claim against the Met.
In a statement given to the inquiry and the office of the North Wales coroner, Ms Clarke claims Mr Todd phoned her before the tribunal hearing in 2001 telling her he had 600 painkillers. She said she was "under no illusion as to what he was suggesting". She decided not to name him and lost the tribunal.
