A Metropolitan Police commander who chaired misconduct hearings and wrote the force’s current drug strategy has been accused of taking cannabis, LSD and magic mushrooms.

       Commander Julian Bennett took the three drugs while on holiday in France between Feb 2019 and July 2020, a gross misconduct hearing heard on Monday.

       Cmdr Bennett is also accused of refusing to provide a drug sample on July 21 2020, after being informed there was reasonable cause to suspect that he had used cannabis.

       The hearing also heard that a photo sent on WhatsApp showing what appeared to be cannabis on a table had been submitted as evidence.

       ‘Fairness must trump disposition’

       James Tumbridge, the chairman of the hearing, said that he would be adjourning proceedings on Monday and rose from the panel to determine a new date, saying: “It might just not be doable to do this hearing this week.”

       His decision came after Cmdr Bennett’s lawyers argued that the hearing would not be “fair” because they had not received all the WhatsApp messages, emails and SMS messages they wanted, including a year’s worth from one of the witnesses.

       John Beggs, defending Cmdr Bennett, said: “Although we are all committed to getting this hearing on the way in the public interest, in the interest of the Metropolitan Police Service and in the interest of Mr Bennett, fairness must trump disposition.”

       Mr Beggs said the witness may have “cherry-picked” the messages that had been disclosed.

       However, Mark Ley-Morgan QC, representing the police, said that they had disclosed all relevant material.

       Bennett presided over 74 misconduct hearings

       Cmdr Bennett, who faces dismissal from the force for gross misconduct over the alleged drug use, wrote the Met Police’s drug strategy for 2017-21 as a commander for territorial policing.

       The document, Dealing with the Impact of Drugs on Communities, set out plans to raise “awareness of the dangers of drug misuse”.

       Cmdr Bennett also presided over 74 misconduct hearings, involving 90 officers, between June 2010 and Feb 2012, according to a freedom of information request lodged in 2021.

       Out of these hearings involving Cmdr Bennett, 56 officers were dismissed, more than 75 per cent.

       A further freedom of information request in 2020 found that Cmdr Bennett chaired 69 of the hearings during the time period and that two officers were dismissed for drugs misuse.

       He has been suspended on full pay since July 2021, pending the investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s directorate of professional standards.