A POLICEMAN said he felt he should have arrested a senior officer who allegedly launched a foul mouthed tirade at him.

Glenn Maleary – who at the time of the incident was the detective chief superintendent in charge of the force control room where calls to the police are answered in Chelmsford – told the misconduct panel Deputy Chief Constable Matthew Horne had sworn at him about his team’s performance and told him he had just one day to improve things.

During the alleged incident, Mr Horne is said to have called Supt Maleary a "f**king c**t" in front of another officer.

The hearing heard Horne yelled: "What sort of a c**t are you to let things get in such a f**king mess?"

Mr Horne allegedly said he had to leave before he punched something, to which Mr Maleary replied ‘or someone?’

Mr Maleary told today's hearing: “At that point I thought I was looking at physical assault – he was that angry I feared it was going to happen.

“On my way back to the force control room I was wondering why did I not arrest him for a public order offence?

“I cannot recall why I didn’t.

READ MORE: Panel hears of top cop's C-word tirade to junior officer

“I think the reason I didn’t is because taking a member of the public’s liberty is a big decision – doing that for a ACC would have been even bigger.”

It is alleged Mr Horne had become angry after spending time in the force control room, and in particular an outstanding domestic violence incident in Tendring which was yet to be investigated.

Mr Maleary, who had only been in the role for two weeks at the time of the incident, said he had been making good progress in cutting the number of unallocated incidents and had cancelled scheduled annual leave to be at work at the time of the exchange.

He said Mr Horne spoke with tight lips, clenched first and narrow eyes which he believed were signs of intense anger.

Mr Maleary said he had never been spoken to in such a manner in public or in private.

He said after the incident the relationship between himself and Mr Horne “never ever felt good” but the pair never spoke of it again. He has now transferred to the City of London force.

He said: “Whenever I have been deployed into a role it is to troubleshoot.

“For some reason it was abundantly clear Mr Horne viewed me as someone whose warrant card he wanted.

“He never told me that himself but colleagues at various ranks and people in the rumour mill said it was quite clear I had no future serving in Essex.”

In a statement, Mr Horne said he recalls the interaction but never used one of the swear words which have been alleged.

No witnesses or alleged victims involved in the case, made direct complaints about Mr Horne’s behaviour.

The alleged incident came to light when Mr Maleary’s brother brought an employment claim against the police where notes of the confrontation included the discussion outside the force control room.