Press Release: Brian Paddick in Brief
24 September 2008
Gay former top cop, Brian Paddick, will be giving a light-hearted view of his life and experiences on Tuesday the 7th of October. The 8 pm meeting at The Brief in George Street, Croydon, is hosted by Croydon Area Gay Society (CAGS).
Brian Paddick was born and brought up in South London, and joined the Metropolitan Police at the age of 18. His experiences as a Sergeant on the front line of the Brixton riots helped strengthen his belief in community policing. He worked his way up to become a Deputy Assistant Commissioner, the highest British police rank ever attained by an openly gay person. During his police service he was no stranger to controversy. His approach to cannabis possession was much criticised during his period as Commander in Lambeth, and he was later falsely accused of smoking cannabis himself and being an anarchist. After promotion to DAC he was thrust into the limelight as Metropolitan Police spokesman for the funeral of Princess Diana and the 7th July London bombings, and towards the end of his police career was involved in controversy about the police shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.
Brian Paddick was married for five years: he says “it was a genuine attempt to try and deny my sexuality and ‘do the right thing’.” He now lives with his Norwegian male partner, and the pair intend to get married in Oslo, taking advantage of the Norwegian same-sex marriage laws. He is distantly related to the late Hugh Paddick, one of the gay stars of Round the Horne.
During his police career, Brian Paddick took a degree at Oxford, where he was captain of the university swimming team and vice-captain of the college rugby team, and later did an MBA at Warwick Business School. He’s now a lecturer at the Ashridge Business School. In May this year he was the Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of London. The Independent has listed him among the 100 most influential gay people.
The event on the 7th of October is the first of a series of bi-monthly open meetings organised by CAGS for the local lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community under the title “The Brief Encounter”. More details can be found on the CAGS website at www.cags.org.uk.
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For more information on this press release, e-mail info@cags.org.uk.
