A SENIOR counter terrorism officer with West Midlands Police is facing dismissal for leaving top secret papers in the boot of his car.
A disciplinary panel recommended assistant chief constable Marcus Beale, head of the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, be dismissed.
The top secret paperwork was stolen from his car sometime over the course of five days in May last year.
The briefcase, containing four documents, included minutes from a high-level counter-terror meeting, counter-terrorism local profiles, details of regular organised crime and highly sensitive information about a high-profile investigation.
ACC Beale was prosecuted last year, and admitted a breach of the Official Secret Acts at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in December, for which he was fined £3,500.
He is set to retire on April 6 after 30 years of service in the police.
He is now set to lose a £215,000 tax-free pension lump sum if his chief constable Dave Thompson agrees with the panel recommendation during a second hearing.
The senior officer has been suspended on full pay since November.
