John Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington

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Sir John Arthur Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington, QPM, DL, FRSA (born 21 October 1942) was Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (head of the Metropolitan Police Service) from 2000 until 2005. From 1991 to 1996, he was Chief Constable of Northumbria Police.

He is now International Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown alongside former First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, Lord West who is National Security Advisor.

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[edit] Police career

Stevens was educated at St. Lawrence College, Ramsgate, the University of Leicester where he took an LL.B and the University of Southampton, where he did his MPhil. Before becoming Chief Constable of Northumbria, he served as Assistant Chief Constable of the Hampshire Constabulary (1986-88) and Deputy Chief Constable of the Cambridgeshire Constabulary (1988-91).

He was knighted in the New Year Honours of 2000 and made Deputy Lieutenant of London in 2001. In 2002 he was made a Knight of Saint John and given Freedom of the City of London.[1]

He presided over an external police inquiry into allegations in Northern Ireland of collusion between the British Army, the Royal Ulster Constabulary and loyalist terrorists in the murders of Irish nationalists. Stevens's third report, published on 17 April 2003, upheld the claim and explicitly said that collusion leading to the murder of nationalists (and some unionists wrongly thought to be Catholic or nationalist) had taken place. In the aftermath of his shock report, David Trimble, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, called for a parliamentary inquiry into the collusion, while the leaders of the Social Democratic and Labour Party and Sinn Féin called for a full public inquiry.

[edit] After the Police

After his retirement as Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, on 6 April 2005 he was created a life peer as Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington, (Kirkwhelpington is in the County of Northumberland.)

Lord Stevens is the Executive Chairman of Quest Ltd, a London based Corporate Intelligence, Investigations and Risk Mitigation Company. Among at least four remunerated company directorships held by him are non-executive directorships of the financial services company Invicta Capital and of Mercer Street Consulting. Stevens also writes for the News of the World newspaper. On 28 November 2005 he was appointed Chancellor of Northumbria University.

He headed a Metropolitan Police inquiry, Operation Paget, into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed, which reported its findings on 14 December 2006.

As a result of the 2006 allegations of corruption in English football by various media sources, Lord Stevens was asked by the Football Association to head up the inquiry in liaison with Quest Ltd. On October 2, 2006, it was announced by the Football Association that Lord Stevens' inquiry had been extended by two months to investigate 39 transfers involving eight clubs. On 20 December 2006, Stevens presented his preliminary report, which found that the level of corruption within English football was not a high as had been anticipated, there were several causes for concern[2]. 17 transfer deals were still subject to further scrutiny.

On 15 June 2007, Lord Stevens' inquiry issued its final report which raised concerns over issues involving 17 player transfers, involving five clubs, three managers and numerous agents and other third parties. In summary, the report stated: “there is no evidence of any irregular payments to club officials or players, and they are identified only as a consequence of the outstanding issues the inquiry has with the agents involved”.[3]. For further details of the inquiry findings see Stevens report.

Lord Stevens was asked by the Conservatives, under David Cameron, to be their candidate for the London Mayoral elections. He declined this offer.[citation needed]

On 29 June 2007, in-coming Prime Minister Gordon Brown appointed Lord Stevens as his Senior Advisor on International Security Issues.[4]


Lord Stevens holds a Commercial Pilot's Licence and part owns a Cessna light aircraft. [5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Metropolitan Police Service. Sir John Stevens. Retrieved on 2008-06-06.
  2. ^ BBC SPORT | Football | Bung inquiry targets 17 transfers
  3. ^ "What Stevens said about each club", www.telegraph.co.uk, 2007-06-16. Retrieved on 2007-06-17. 
  4. ^ Brown unveils new faces. Number 10 Press Office.
  5. ^ Stevens, John (2005). Not For The Faint Hearted. Orion Publishing Co.. ISBN 0297848429. 

[edit] External links

Police appointments
Preceded by
Sir Paul Condon		 Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
2000 – 2005		 Succeeded by
Sir Ian Blair
Academic offices
Preceded by
The Lord Glenamara		 Chancellor of Northumbria University
2005 – present		 Incumbent
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