Police chief gets A in Welsh

Richard Brunstrom gained an A grade

Controversial North Wales Police chief Richard Brunstrom - criticised for his speed camera campaign - has overtaken his number three in learning Welsh.

The chief constable is celebrating on Thursday with an A pass in his Welsh language A-level exam.

He pipped his assistant chief constable Clive Wolfendale who secured a worthy B pass in the same "use of Welsh" exam.

Mr Brunstrom, who began his police career in Sussex in 1979, is a keen learner who had previously described his GCSE pass in Welsh as his "most satisfying achievement".

I am determined to become fluent, and I will Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom

He moved to north Wales in 2000 after serving as the deputy chief constable of the Cleveland force.

As the new deputy chief constable he vowed to learn Welsh, and when he replaced Michael Argent in the top role in 2001, he underlined the importance of the police under his command becoming bilingual.

The ability to speak Welsh, or a willingness to learn, is a prerequisite for the job laid down by the North Wales Police Authority and Mr Brunstrom has proved he has met that condition with his A-level award.

Mr Brunstrom says he speaks Welsh to his personal assistant and communicates in the language with his staff by email.

'Proud'

But he says he does not get enough chance to practise his spoken Welsh.

"I am delighted and really want to practise more now," he said.

"I am determined to become fluent, and I will.

"I'm not interested in getting any more qualifications - I don't have enough room on my desk for them!

"What I want is to practise in and informal manner and to be able to speak it with people."

He says his achievements and that of his assistant, Clive Wolfendale and chief inspector Fraser Jones, who both achieved a grade B in the exam, is good news for Wales.

"There are more and more people within the force who want to learn it and use it in the workplace," he said.

"It is very important for Wales because it is a bilingual country."

Speeding

Mr Brunstrom's good news will be certain to be a relief from the vehement criticism he has been on the receiving end of over the last few weeks.

Having previously called for the decriminalisation of drugs, including heroin and cocaine, he was more recently accused of being "obsessed" with catching speeding motorists to the detriment of fighting other crime.

One tabloid newspaper pilloried him as possibly the "worst copper in Britain" and asked readers to give their views.

The attacks were prompted when he described a pensioner who had been caught in a camera speed trap as being guilty of "anti-social behaviour" and comparing him with a 17-year-old yob."

Hitting back during an interview with BBC Wales, he said there was: "A quite unpleasant thread running through some of the national media and some of the interest groups pursuing an obsessional and irrational scheme to discredit the government's National Safety Camera project.

"They're not going to succeed."