Chief Commissioner tells AC Guerin to stand aside and take leave

UPDATE

Graham Ashton has told Assistant Commissioner Brett Guerin to step down as the head of Victoria Police Professional Standards and take leave while the matter is being assessed by IBAC.

Victoria Police this morning released the below statement.

“In accordance with his obligations under the Victoria Police Act, Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton has referred a matter involving allegations against Assistant Commissioner Brett Guerin to IBAC.
Whilst the matter is being assessed, the Chief Commissioner has directed AC Guerin to step aside from his role as the Assistant Commissioner for Professional Standards and take leave.

As the matter is now with IBAC for its consideration it would not be appropriate to comment further.”

EXCLUSIVE

Neil Mitchell says the senior officer in charge of Victoria Police ethical standards should stand down while he is investigated for making vulgar comments online under a fake name.

In an exclusive interview, Assistant Commissioner Brett Guerin confessed to a vulgar online rant made about former Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon and former Police Association Secretary Paul Mullet.

Click PLAY to watch the full interview (contains explicit language)

The Age today reported the matter has been referred to IBAC by Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton.

The comments were made under the name “Vernon Demerest”, after the fictional character played by Dean Martin in the 1970 movie Airport,

Among the series of comments, Demerest wrote in August 2016, “She (Ms Nixon) bent the Mulletmeister (Mullett) over and slipped a rather large schlong up his date courtesy of the Supreme Court’s decision this morning.”

“If he did this I don’t think he can stay as the Head of Ethical Standards,” Neil said.

“It’s a juvenile thing to do.

“I think he should be stood down while it is investigated.”

Click PLAY below to hear Neil’s full take

AC Guerin later joined Neil in studio and confessed to the allegations.

“It is certainly crude and coarse language, I shouldn’t have done it,” AC Guerin said.

“I’m ashamed that my mother and my daughters had to read that kind of language.”

Guerin says it’s a matter for Graham Ashton to decide his future as head of Professional Standards.

Click PLAY to hear the full interview