Sir Paul Robert Stephenson (born 26 September 1953) is a British retired police officer who served as

Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis is the head of London's Metropolitan Police Service. Sir Mark Rowley was appointed to the post on 8 July 2022 after Dame Cressida Dick announced her resignation in February 2022. The rank of Comm ...

from 2009 to 2011. Stephenson joined the Lancashire police in 1975 and attended the Bramshill staff training course. As a superintendent, he was closely involved in the

inquiry An inquiry (also spelled as enquiry in British English) is any process that has the aim of augmenting knowledge, resolving doubt, or solving a problem. A theory of inquiry is an account of the various types of inquiry and a treatment of the ...

into the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster. After serving as chief constable of Lancashire, he was promoted deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in 2005, acting commissioner in 2008, and finally commissioner in January 2009. In July 2011, Stephenson resigned over speculation regarding his connection with

Neil Wallis Neil John Wallis (born 4 October 1950) is a British former newspaper editor. He is currently a media consultant and media commentator. Early life Wallis was born in Lincolnshire. His mother, from Liverpool, served with the Women's Auxiliary ...

, suspected of involvement in the

News International phone hacking scandal Beginning in the 1990s, and going as far until its shutdown in 2011, employees of the now-defunct newspaper ''News of the World'' engaged in phone hacking, police bribery, and exercising improper influence in the pursuit of stories. Investi ...

Biography

Stephenson grew up in

Bacup Bacup ( , ) is a town in the Rossendale Borough in Lancashire, England, in the South Pennines close to Lancashire's boundaries with West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. The town is in the Rossendale Valley and the upper Irwell Valley, east ...

in the

Rossendale Rossendale may refer to several places and organizations in Lancashire, England: Places *Rossendale Valley, a river valley *Borough of Rossendale, a local government district *Rossendale (UK Parliament constituency) Rossendale was a United King ...

district of east

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, the son of a butcher."Profile: Sir Paul Stephenson"
BBC News, 17 July 2011 He attended Fearns County Secondary School in

Stacksteads Stacksteads is a village between the towns of Bacup and Waterfoot within the Rossendale borough of Lancashire, England. The population of this Rossendale ward at the 2011 census was 3,789. Stacksteads includes a mountain bike trail called Lee ...

where he excelled at swimming and went on to

Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School (BRGS) is a selective school, selective co-educational Academy (English school), academy grammar school in Waterfoot, Rossendale, Lancashire, England. The school is named after the two main towns either side ...

to do his 'A' levels and became

head boy The two Senior Prefects, individually called Head Boy (for the male), and Head Girl (for the female) are students who carry leadership roles and are responsible for representing the school's entire student body. Although mostly out of use, in some ...

. Stephenson originally desired a career in the footwear industry, and took up work at the Bacup Shoe Company factory in nearby

. By the age of 20 he was made a trainee manager, but in 1975 he followed his elder brother into the police force.

Personal life

Stephenson lives in Lancashire with his wife, Lynda, and their three children.

Career

Stephenson joined the police service in 1975, aged 21 and spent much of his early service as a constable attached to the Lancashire Underwater Search Unit. In 1982 Stephenson attended the Bramshill police training college near

Hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

in Hampshire as a sergeant on the Special Course at the same time as Sir Hugh Orde, Peter Clarke, Tim Brain, Paul Kernaghan, Frank Whitely, Jane Stitchbury and numerous other chief police officers. He became a sergeant in Bacup (1983), then an inspector in

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

(1984) and a Chief Inspector in

Colne Traffic Department Colne () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. The town is northeast of Nelson, Lancashire, Nelson, northeast of Burnley and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The ...

(1986). He became a

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Building superintendent, a manager, maintenance or repair person, custodian or janitor, especially in the United States; sometimes shortened to "super" *Prison warden or superintendent, a prison administrator *Soprin ...

at the age of 34 in February 1988 when in

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

as sub-divisional commander before being appointed to a Headquarters research and planning post where he also acted as staff officer to his then Chief Constable, Brian Johnson CBE, QPM, who was professional advisor to Sir Peter Taylor during the course of him undertaking the Hillsborough Inquiry (1989–1990). Stephenson was thus party to all of the material submitted to and considered by the Taylor Inquiry, albeit in a relatively junior position. He took a six-month secondment to the (former) RUC in the early 1990s as a sub-divisional commander, a posting that ended in some acrimony. He returned to Lancashire to a further Headquarters support post before being appointed in 1994 as a sub-divisional commander then divisional commander in Preston. He has also served as

Assistant Chief Constable Assistant chief constable (ACC) is the third highest rank in all British territorial police forces (except the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police, in which the equivalent rank is commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as C ...

Merseyside Police Merseyside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Merseyside in North West England. The service area is 647 square kilometres with a population of around 1.5 million. As of September 2017 the service has 3,484 police o ...

starting in 1994 until 1999 and Deputy Chief Constable in Lancashire from May 1999 under Chief Constable

Pauline Clare Lancashire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Lancashire in North West England. The force's headquarters are at Hutton, Lancashire, Hutton, near the cit ...

. Stephenson succeeded Pauline Clare and was appointed as Chief Constable of

Lancashire Constabulary Lancashire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Lancashire in North West England. The force's headquarters are at Hutton, Lancashire, Hutton, near the cit ...

in July 2002. He was appointed deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in February 2005. In September 2008 it was announced he would become acting commissioner of the Met from 1 December, following the resignation of

Sir Ian Blair Ian Warwick Blair, Baron Blair of Boughton, (born 19 March 1953) is a British retired police officer who held the position of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2005 to 2008. He joined the Metropolitan Police in 1974 under a gradua ...

. In January 2009 it was announced that he had been appointed as commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service.

Resignation

In July 2011, Stephenson's judgement was questioned after it emerged that

, a former executive editor of the ''

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...

'' had acted as a media consultant to the MPS in 2009 and 2010, and also that in early 2011 Stephenson received £12,000 of free hospitality from a

Champneys Champneys is an English country house and its associated estate near Tring, Hertfordshire. The mansion is run as a destination spa by a business using "Champneys" as the brand name for a group of spa resorts and day spas. History The earliest ...

health spa, where Wallis was working at the time whilst Stephenson was recovering from surgery for the removal of a non-malignant tumour in his femur. On 14 July 2011, Wallis was arrested by the Metropolitan Police investigating the

News of the World phone hacking scandal News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. ...

. On 17 July, in a lengthy statement in which he defended his actions, Stephenson announced his intention to resign as commissioner, saying that questions surrounding his integrity would otherwise become detrimental to the Met as a whole. The Deputy Commissioner,

Tim Godwin Timothy John Godwin OBE QPM is a former British police officer, who served as Deputy Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police Service, from July 2009 until November 2011. He held the post of Acting Commissioner, following the resignation ...

, became Acting Commissioner in the interim between Sir Paul's resignation and the appointment of his successor,

Bernard Hogan-Howe Bernard Hogan-Howe, Baron Hogan-Howe, (born 25 October 1957) is an English former police officer and was the head of London's Metropolitan Police as Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2011 until 2017. Born in Sheffield, Hogan-How ...

. This is an excerpt from Stephenson's statement:

Honours

Stephenson was awarded the

Queen's Police Medal The King's Police Medal (KPM) is awarded to police in the United Kingdom for gallantry or distinguished service. It was also formerly awarded within the wider British Empire, including Commonwealth countries, most of which now have their own hono ...

for services to policing in the

2000 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2000 for the United Kingdom and New Zealand were announced on 31 December 1999, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2000. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various or ...

, followed in 2007 by an Honorary Fellowship from the

University of Central Lancashire The University of Lancashire (previously abbreviated UCLan) is a public university based in the city of Preston, Lancashire, England. It has its roots in ''The Institution For The Diffusion Of Useful Knowledge'', founded in 1828. Previously k ...

in Preston. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the Queen's

2008 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 2008 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's Of ...

.United Kingdom list:

References

External links

''Times'' October 2008

''Preston Citizen'' October 2008

''Evening Standard'' October 2008
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, Paul 1953 births British Chief Constables Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis Knights Bachelor Living people Deputy Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis People associated with the News International phone hacking scandal People from Bacup English recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Royal Ulster Constabulary officers People educated at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School People associated with the University of Central Lancashire