Belfast Police Offered Coldplay Tickets

Dinners, concerts and even some salmon.

Now and again, a policeman's lot is not so unhappy.

The PSNI only introduced a register for the receipt of hospitality and gifts last April - years after many other public bodies.

Entries for Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde were kept from the start of 2005, in advance of the new policy taking effect.

There were four disclosed cases of Sir Hugh accepting hospitality from the private sector during the year.

Three were for concerts at the Odyssey, courtesy of the centre itself, and the fourth was for a dinner from HP Ireland.

Two of Sir Hugh's Odyssey concert nights were just before Christmas - December 21 and December 23 - when Coldplay and Rod Stewart were in town.

It was stated in the hospitality register that the police service benefited from his attendance at both shows as they enabled him to "promote the organisation with the business and public sector".

Deputy Chief Constable Paul Leighton's register entries last year included a breakfast meeting with Lord Rana, hotelier and Chamber of Commerce president, dinner from consultancy company Penna at the Old Schoolhouse, Comber for a "quarterly meeting" and a "Christmas soiree" hosted by Hilton Hotel.

Meanwhile, the Assistant Chief Constable for operational support Roy Toner received around a dozen dinners and lunches from companies between April and December 2005.

Some of these were described as working dinners and lunches, while others were just listed as dinners.

The companies footing the bill, according to the register, included IT experts Steria, Lagan Technology and consultancy companies Deloitte and Symbia.

Locations included upmarket Belfast restaurants Deanes and Cayenne.

Mr Toner's list also included attendance at a Microsoft 20th anniversary dinner in Dublin. He also registered an invite to the corporate hospitality enclosure at the North West 200, courtesy of BT.

In certain cases, the police service refused to disclose the identity of hospitality donors on security grounds.

It stated: "Subversive elements would be interested in obtaining personal details in order to compromise the operational effectiveness of PSNI."

Among the details kept secret were the name or names of whoever donated gifts of smoked salmon, a "small rug" and a "small woven doormat" to Assistant Chief Constable Judith Gillespie in December 2005. Each gift was described as a "token of appreciation".

Likewise, the name of a donor of salmon to Mr Toner was blacked out.

Two of the consultancy companies listed as providing hospitality to the PSNI top brass, Steria and Deloitte, have carried out consultancy work for the force for a number of years.

The register further stated that employment agency Grafton Recruitment gave a bottle of wine to three senior officers last December.

It also paid for a place at a Dublin Chamber of Commerce dinner for the PSNI's head of human resources Joe Stewart in October.

Grafton is responsible for civilian recruitment to the service.

A PSNI spokeswoman said its hospitality and gifts register was introduced last year following a recommendation by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary.

Before this, the issue was covered in an internal code.

"The PSNI is committed to upholding the highest professional standards. The policy on the acceptance of gifts, gratuities and hospitality was the subject of consultation with amongst other groups, the Police Ombudsman and the Policing Board. It is reviewed on an annual basis," she added.

Source: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk