Police officer ‘demoted for blowing the whistle’ over successor who commissioned ‘£8,000 silver statue of himself’ loses court case

Two high-flying executives who also volunteered as senior police officers became embroiled in a bitter row after one of them ordered a silver statue of himself worth £8,000.

Chief Financial Officer Ian Miller clashed with company chairman James Phipson after succeeding him as chief officer of the City of London’s special constables, an employment tribunal heard.

The Scottish chartered accountant, who has been awarded an MBE, accused Mr Phipson of fraud in the funding of a commemorative statue ‘vanity project’ entitled ‘The Copper’, which was based on his likeness.

In return, Mr Phipson warned bosses that his “frustrated” predecessor was undermining him and complained that alleged bad behavior on Mr Miller’s part, including inappropriate behavior towards young female police officers, had been ignored.

The dispute culminated in Mr. Phipson’s resignation and was followed by Mr. Miller’s demotion to special agent, a move he said was punishment for blowing the whistle.

Chief Financial Officer Ian Miller (pictured) clashed with company chairman James Phipson after succeeding him as Chief Officer of the City of London’s special constables, an employment tribunal heard

Mr Miller accused James Phipson (pictured) of fraud in the financing of a commemorative statue ‘vanity project’ entitled ‘The Copper’ which was based on his likeness

However, his claims have been dismissed after an employment judge ruled that his true “ulterior motive” in making the statue allegations was the removal of his rival.

The conflict came to light during a week-long hearing in central London after Mr Miller, chief financial officer of translation company Guildhawk, sued the City of London Police (CLPD).

The tribunal was told that in addition to his ‘busy commercial career’, he has been a volunteer police officer since 2002, rising to the rank of Special Commander and Chief Special Police Officer until he began secondment to the College of Policing in 2016.

Mr Miller continued to carry out patrols for the force but was replaced in his leadership role by Mr Phipson, CEO of financial company Dragon Argent.

The tribunal heard that the CLPD has a detachment of officers with the Honorary Artillery Company, a charity that supports the HAC Regiment, an Army Reserve unit.

The HAC detachment was due to celebrate its centenary in 2019 and the year before, Mr Phipson became involved in discussions about the anniversary celebrations.

“One of the plans to commemorate the centenary was that a piece of silverware depicting a police officer would be presented to the HAC, in addition to various other silverware of a military nature that form part of HAC’s collection,” the tribunal said. told.

Although financing had not been properly agreed, a silversmith was commissioned to create ‘The Copper’, which Mr Phipson agreed to model and which ultimately cost just over £8,000.

The dispute culminated in the resignation of Mr Phipson and was followed by the demotion of Mr Miller (pictured) to special agent

In July 2019, Mr Miller was appointed treasurer of the HAC detachment and became involved ‘in the matter of the purchase of the silver statue’, which he considered ‘unauthorised’.

In September he reported Mr Phipson to bosses, claiming he had fraudulently commissioned the ‘priceless’ statue.

“My concern is that this action may represent fraud by misrepresentation, or at worst fraud by abuse of position,” he wrote.

‘This is seen by members of the detachment as a vanity project where James used the HAC and/or detachment funds to have a statue of himself made in silver.

“The impact on morale was clear.”

The tribunal was told that an investigation cleared Mr Phipson of any wrongdoing, but that his relationship with Mr Miller deteriorated significantly from then on.

In an email to then-CLPD Commissioner Ian Dyson, Mr. Phipson accused his predecessor of trying to undermine him and “poison” relationships.

“He has consistently targeted, undermined and compromised our efforts, and spread dissent among subordinates and subjects, within the broader force and beyond,” he said.

“He’s clearly frustrated that he’s no longer in charge.”

The tribunal was told that Mr Miller had made a series of other formal complaints about the functioning of the City of London Special Constabulary (CLSC) led by Mr Phipson.

He alleged that Mr Phipson told a colleague that he was working with Commissioner Dyson to ‘destroy (Mr Miller’s) life, have his MBE revoked and put him on the College of Policing’s Barred List’, a claim that the tribunal rejected.

Although financing was not properly agreed, a silversmith was commissioned to create ‘The Copper’, which Mr Phipson (pictured) agreed to model and which ended up costing just over £8,000.

In December 2021, lawyer Mishcon de Reya, who represented Princess Diana during her divorce from King Charles, wrote to the police commissioner on his behalf claiming he had suffered ‘damage’ as a result of his whistleblowing.

The tribunal heard that Mr Phipson resigned as chief officer in June 2022, claiming Mr Miller has ‘consistently sought to undermine my command through insubordination, defamation, misrepresentation and malicious innuendo’.

He described him as “a deceitful and irresponsible individual” and accused his superiors of failing to address concerns about his predecessor.

These include “consistent and sustained incidents and allegations of sexual impropriety,” he said.

‘These included forcibly embracing a young female specialty late at night in his car (for which he was formally punished); continue to bring home late night single female specials; ironing a female special’s uniform and shining her shoes before a parade without her knowledge; and selecting almost exclusively female specials to accompany him in patrol cars,” he wrote.

“This has been raised time and time again… but no effective action or sanction has been taken, either formally or informally.”

In 2023, a restructuring of the ‘top-heavy’ special police within the police force recommended ‘scraping’ most of the senior ranks.

Mr. Miller was told that as part of this process he could become a special constable again, be transferred to another force or retire. Because he didn’t respond, he was demoted.

He claimed at the tribunal that this step was taken because of the ‘protected disclosures’ he had made.

He also claimed that he did not receive a new dress uniform and was given a different badge than other special constables.

However, his case was dismissed as the panel ruled that Mr Miller had “ulterior motives” when he reported the statue to Mr Phipson.

Employment judge Timothy Adkin said: ‘He wanted to remove Mr Phipson from the role of chief officer of the special police force.

‘He saw Mr Phipson as a problem that would ‘solve’ the statuette charge. Our finding is that there was only an ulterior motive, namely (his) personal agenda to depose Mr. Phipson.

‘This was an internal, personal dispute and rivalry between the two men and we find that (Mr Miller) had no belief whatsoever that it was in the public interest to make this disclosure.’