'Forced out' ex-GMP chief's £217k payout

IAN Hopkins was paid £217,000 in 'termination benefits' on top of his wages when he was forced out as chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, accounts show.

- JOHN SCHEERHOUT

It means his total remuneration for that year topped £377,000 when his salary of £160,000 is added despite leading what was branded at the time as a failing police force.

Mr. Hopkins was ordered by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to leave his role as chief constable of GMP in December 2020 after a damning police inspectorate report revealed the force had failed to record an estimated 80,000 crimes in one year, plunging GMP into special measures where it remains today.

The mayor's office said Mr. Hopkins was paid 'according to his contractual terms and nothing more!

GMP's latest published unaudited accounts, signed off on July 29, reveal the salaries of the force's highest earners in the year to March 2022, including Mr. Hopkin's successor Stephen Watson who was paid £175,000. He was installed in late May.

The accounts show nine different assistant chief constables on the payroll during the year, a much higher number than usual as the new chief brought in new faces and others left.