In his current guise, the former policeman has become the obvious target for disgruntled investors in the sportswear chain, which is 55% owned by the billionaire Mike Ashley and has been widely criticised over its working practices and corporate governance. In September 2015, Hellawell faced pressure to remove him as chairman of the company by minority shareholders. In the 1980s he was seconded to interrogate Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, and reportedly succeeded in establishing that the serial killer had attempted two further murders. Sports Direct's founder and Executive Deputy chairman – Mike Ashley – was criticised by the tribunal for 'disgraceful and unlawful employment practices'.

He fell out with his Whitehall bosses and, while he had already resigned, publicly announced his departure in 2002 during an interview on Radio Four’s Today programme. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the book is the changing nature of policing since the 1960s, when crime was far lower and villains were regularly given a good hiding. He went to school at Kirkburton Secondary Modern School until the age of 15, when he left without a single exam pass, then went to Dewsbury Technical College and Barnsley College of Mining. We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you.tv View image in fullscreen Keith Hellawell appearing before the Scottish Affairs Committee 2015 Photograph: parliamentlive. Claimed to be Britain's then youngest police sergeant at age 23, after passing a fast track examination he was appointed Assistant Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police in 1983.

He was jeered and booed at a Police Federation meeting in response to changes he introduced to the West Yorkshire CID. The Outsider is the autobiography of a man of absolute integrity fired by the determination to better not only his own lot, but that of other humans as well, and to change things from the inside. He deals with the issues of racism, sexism and political correctness, and provides a rare insight into the workings of the judiciary, royalty and the establishment.He has previously talked of how he never knew his father and how as a boy he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a young man who had access to their tenement rooms. He endured it as a controversial chief constable of West Yorkshire police – and then memorably again during his quarrelsome stint as an adviser on drugs policy to the last Labour government. He resigned from his position in July 2002 over the government's reclassification of cannabis from a Class B to a Class C substance. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites.

In the seventies he served in Northern Ireland, and h became Assistant Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police in 1983. citation needed] Rising through the ranks, including working in CID, he was appointed Assistant Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police in 1983, then Deputy Chief Constable of Humberside Police in 1985. View image in fullscreen Keith Hellawell held his role as advisor to Labour on drugs policy, or the nation’s ‘drug tsar’ from 1998 to 2003. He also completed an MSc in Social Policy from Cranfield University and an external degree in Law from the University of London. The tough life of one of Britain’s most senior policemen, who rose through the ranks from poverty and deprivation to the highest office, and went on to become Blair’s ‘Drug Czar’.Here is a man of intellect, probity, progressive ideas and the energy to carry them through, who spent his working life in the two most rigid, conservative and autocratic organisations in the country-the police force and the civil service. These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site.