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taffordshire Police Chief Constable Christopher Noble was suspended in August 2025 by Staffordshire commissioner for police, fire and rescue and crime, Ben Adams.
The suspension came during an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation into allegations around matters which pre-date Mr Noble’s employment with Staffordshire Police.
Mr Noble resigned on Tuesday, 28th July, the day before the hearing of the Gross Misconduct allegations, scheduled for Wednesday, 29th July.
Mr Noble was appointed Chief Constable in December 2021.
Mr Adams said on the day of the hearing: “I can confirm that yesterday I received Chief Constable Chris Noble’s resignation, which I have accepted with immediate effect.” He added “Becky Riggs will remain as Staffordshire Police’s acting chief constable.”
The misconduct hearing continued as planned under “former officer provisions”. This allows the hearing to reach a determination of the allegations even though the person concerned has resigned.
The hearing was made public, with a limited number of attendees and, in an unprecedented move, on-line access given to the public and media under strict privacy rules that prohibited reporting of the details of the complaints and specific findings of the panel.
The panel of three, chaired by Kathryn Stone, OBE, HM Inspector of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, concluded that Gross Misconduct allegations had been proved and she said “He would have been dismissed if he had not resigned”.
The IOPC is also investigating allegations that Mr Noble shared confidential information without a policing purpose. That investigation continues.
Mr Noble graduated from Queen’s University Belfast with an honours degree in Law before joining The Royal Ulster Constabulary, which then became the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
He worked in a variety of roles there. He was the Commander for Belfast City Policing District, leading more than 1000 staff with responsibility for overt counter-terrorism policing, local response and neighbourhood policing, and public order and civil contingencies.
Subsequently, with 21 years service, he was appointed, in 2017, as Assistant Chief Constable to Humberside Police where he served four years before securing the Staffordshire Chief Constable post.
A consequence of the finding is that his name will be added to the College of Policing Barred List, which prevents future working on policing and other law enforcement jobs.
This article complies with the reporting restrictions imposed by the panel and contains publicly available sources.
Interim Branch Secretary
Joseph Molloy