PADDICK COULD SUE POLICE FORCE FOR ANTI-GAY DISCRIMINATION

Brian Paddick, the controversial police commander being investigated for
alleged drug offences, is considering suing the Metropolitan Police for
discriminating against him because he is gay.

Mr Paddick, 43, who has been moved to a desk job during the disciplinary
inquiry, has taken soundings about whether he could use the Human Rights
Act to claim damages if he is sacked or demoted. He has accused sections of
his force and the press of adopting a homophobic attitude towards him and
trying to undermine his work.

The Metropolitan Police Authority has ordered an investigation into
allegations, which Mr Paddick denies, made by his former partner that he
smoked cannabis. The inquiry will also examine Mr Paddick's admission that
he allowed James Renolleau to smoke cannabis in his flat and breached
police guidelines by not informing his superiors that his partner was on
bail while they were having a relationship.

Mr Paddick, the architect of a pilot scheme in south London to let off with
a verbal warning anyone caught with a small amount of cannabis, is
understood to have been in talks with friends and colleagues about the
possibility of legal action. But he stressed yesterday: "I have made no
decision about whether or not to sue the Met. I'm not threatening legal
action at this stage." Mr Paddick is considering whether the Human Rights
Act could be used to bring a claim of discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation. Under the Act there is no specific law that protects people
from discrimination because they are gay. But it might be possible to use
one of the Act's provisions, such as the right to a private life, if it
could be shown that discrimination had caused that right to be breached.

Mr Paddick, Britain's most senior openly gay officer, says he is determined
to get back his job as divisional commander of Lambeth. Yesterday he met
Gordon Clark, the Deputy Chief Constable of Humberside, who has been
brought in to head the police inquiry.