Daily Mail : Get rich Quick: Pension fortune for blundering anti-terror chief

Get rich Quick: Pension fortune for blundering anti-terror chief

By James Slack | April 10, 2009

Anti-terror chief Bob Quick quit yesterday with a pension pot worth millions - despite admitting he came close to endangering an operation to smash a suspected Al Qaeda terrorist unit.

Mr Quick, who inadvertently revealed confidential details of the terror swoop while exiting his car for a Downing Street meeting, fell on his sword shortly after 8am after he lost the confidence of the Home Secretary.

The officer - who has had to make three public apologies in four months - made the devastating admission 'that my action could have compromised a major counter-terrorism operation'.

But it soon emerged that, with the pension package Mr Quick thrashed out on Wednesday evening, he would be resigning into the lap of luxury.

Aged 49, he leaves the Met - and the entire police service - with a guaranteed pension of more than £110,000 a year, or a £520,000 lump sum and about £85,000 a year in return for his 30 years of service.

He is also likely to pick up lucrative consultancy work and his income will be bolstered by his family's wedding car hire business run by his wife Judith.

Mark Wallace, campaign director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'It is amazing that someone can make such a serious error and simply withdraw into a life of wealthy retirement.'

Mr Quick was summoned to the Home Office on Wednesday afternoon after his blunder in allowing a top secret document detailing the terrorist swoops to be photographed as he walked along Downing Street.

Jacqui Smith made clear her 'serious concerns' about the error, which she also relayed to Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson - though Mr Quick was left to reach his own conclusion that there was no alternative but to quit.

The details were hammered out late into Wednesday evening, and his resignation announced yesterday morning.

Rules on police pensions, to which officers contribute 11 per cent of salary, provide for payouts of two-thirds of final salary for those who have served 30 years.

Mr Quick, who earned £168,000 a year plus benefits, is therefore entitled to £114,000 a year, or to take the £520,000 lump sum and £85,000 a year.

His recent track record includes a number of blunders. In December he apologised twice for accusing senior Tories of leaking a story about his wife's car business.

That followed controversy over his role in the arrest of Tory frontbencher Damian Green during an inquiry into leaks which embarrassed the Government.

London Mayor Boris Johnson broke the news of Mr Quick's departure on Radio 4's Today programme, saying he had accepted the Assistant Commissioner's resignation with 'great reluctance and sadness'.

But his unexpected early announcement of the news was said to have left Miss Smith 'livid'. Sources claimed he had been determined to appear to play a key role in the decision, even though he was on the periphery of negotiations.

Mr Johnson justified his intervention on the grounds he is chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority.

Relations between the mayor's office and Miss Smith's department have been fraught since Miss Smith stood by former Met chief Sir Ian Blair through a series of scandals and gaffes, only for Mr Johnson to effectively force him from office.

Rules on police pensions, to which officers contribute 11 per cent of salary, provide for payouts of two-thirds of final salary for those who have served 30 years.

Mr Quick, who earned £168,000 a year plus benefits, is therefore entitled to £114,000 a year, or to take the £520,000 lump sum and £85,000 a year.

His recent track record includes a number of blunders. In December he apologised twice for accusing senior Tories of leaking a story about his wife's car business.

That followed controversy over his role in the arrest of Tory frontbencher Damian Green during an inquiry into leaks which embarrassed the Government.

London Mayor Boris Johnson broke the news of Mr Quick's departure on Radio 4's Today programme, saying he had accepted the Assistant Commissioner's resignation with 'great reluctance and sadness'.

But his unexpected early announcement of the news was said to have left Miss Smith 'livid'. Sources claimed he had been determined to appear to play a key role in the decision, even though he was on the periphery of negotiations.

Mr Johnson justified his intervention on the grounds he is chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority.

Relations between the mayor's office and Miss Smith's department have been fraught since Miss Smith stood by former Met chief Sir Ian Blair through a series of scandals and gaffes, only for Mr Johnson to effectively force him from office.