NEW documents have revealed the anger felt within North Yorkshire Police when their top officer tried to bypass a recruitment process to give a relative a job.

The Press has obtained the previously secret investigation report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) into the nepotism allegations against North Yorkshire’s Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell and his deputy Adam Briggs.

The report, which informed the public report by IPCC commissioner Nicholas Long, recounts the moment when the chief constable was confronted by his assistant Sue Cross at the force’s headquarters in Newby Wiske one night last March.

Assistant Chief Constable Cross told Mr Maxwell if he did not tell the North Yorkshire Police Authority what had happened, she would.

The report reads: “The chief constable came in and asked if she was cross or angry. She told him she was because of what he had done. She felt he had used poor judgement and was angry and disappointed.

“It was out of character for the chief constable who was always reinforcing the need to be professional, transparent and demonstrate strong ethical standards. She had never known the chief constable behave like this before.”

Mr Maxwell was given a final written warning over the nepotism row, which surrounded a recruitment drive by North Yorkshire Police 18 months ago.

The force’s phone system buckled under huge demand, and Mr Maxwell and Mr Briggs circumvented a “call-back” procedure that had been set up, putting their relatives at an advantage. The report, obtained by The Press under the Freedom of Information Act, also details a meeting Mr Maxwell had with the force’s legal director Simon Dennis, a week later.

Mr Dennis produced handwritten notes, saying Mr Maxwell “appeared unsettled” and said “I feel like an a*******” – claims which Mr Maxwell later denied.

Mr Dennis said Mr Maxwell said he had phoned a relative on the basis of a paper note that had come through the staff office, and Mr Dennis recalled saying “crikey”. Mr Maxwell denied Mr Dennis’s account.

Mike Grant, senior investigator with the IPCC, made 15 conclusions that he passed to Mr Long, including findings that the chief constable was not “open or transparent” with those running the recruitment process; that both officers breached the force’s anti-fraud and anti-corruption policy; that Mr Briggs misled the public in media interviews and that there were gross misconduct cases against both officers.

Mr Briggs left the force shortly after the nepotism controversy. Mr Maxwell was given a final written warning and has since apologised, but there have been calls for him to stand down.

The report, parts of which have been blacked out, can be viewed online at yorkpress.co.uk/ipcc