Ex-officer cleared of perjury in police tribunal

A former police inspector has been cleared of perjury over evidence he gave at an employment tribunal which found there was an "absolute boys' club" in a Police Scotland firearms unit.

Keith Warhurst was found guilty of behaving in an abusive manner by making a derogatory comment about a colleague's partner, who was pregnant, in 2017 and not guilty of sharing indecent images of topless women to a WhatsApp group.

The perjury charge was not proven and Mr Warhurst was given an absolute discharge, meaning no punishment will be given.

Sheriff Derek O'Carroll said the charge Mr Warhurst has been found guilty of "would not have found its way into this court" had it not been for the perjury charge.

Sheriff O'Carroll also said it was "important to bear in mind the remorse which has been expressed by the accused".

Mr Warhurst, who has since left the force, gave evidence at an employment tribunal in 2021 which found that a female officer was victimised after raising concerns about a sexist email.

In the email, Mr Warhurst said two female firearms officers should not be deployed together when there were sufficient males on duty.

The case brought by Rhona Malone found evidence of a "boys' club" culture in Police Scotland's firearms unit and a settlement was reached in which Ms Malone was paid nearly £1m by the force.

Mr Warhurst gave evidence at this tribunal, and the charge against him in the perjury trial stated that he had denied having made a derogatory remark about a colleague's partner or having sent indecent images when he knew he had.

During the trial, Mr Warhurst itted to making a remark but claimed that he did not lie to the tribunal at the time because he did not making the comment. He also later apologised to the colleague.

Fellow former firearms officer Richard Creanor told Edinburgh Sheriff Court that he witnessed Mr Warhurst make the remark in 2017.

Mr Creanor said that fellow officer John Morgan had told several colleagues in a shared office that his partner had discovered she was pregnant.

He told them he took the previous day off work to go to a hospital appointment with her because she initially believed she had a cyst.

Mr Creanor claimed that Keith Warhurst then swore and said the woman must be fat "if she didn't realise she was pregnant".

The jury found Mr Warhurst guilty of this charge, but cleared him of the related and more serious perjury charge.

After the verdict and when granting the absolute discharge, Sheriff O'Carroll remarked that Mr Warhurst had since apologised to Mr Morgan for his comments and expressed remorse, which is "another relevant matter which the court is required to take into ".

During the trial, Mr Warhurst said he had no recollection of sending pictures of topless women to a WhatsApp group.

Mr Warhurst's perjury charge was found to be not proven by the jury, meaning he has been cleared.

An absolute discharge means that no punishment will be given to Mr Warhurst.