A Ripon man who served for more than 30 years as a detective with the Metropolitan Police and the National Crime Squad has been named as one of North Yorkshire’s four new deputy lieutenants. 

Shafquat “Tom” Ali led complex investigations into serious and organised crime, corruption and homicide as well as sensitive inquiries in both the UK and abroad.  

Mr Ali, who lives close to Ripon with his wife, Sarah, and their three children, was appointed by the lord-lieutenant of North Yorkshire, Jo Ropner, who is the king’s representative in the county.

The deputy lieutenants provide specialist local knowledge to the lord-lieutenant, helping her to perform her duties and giving her advice to help foster closer links with the community. 

The other new deputy lieutenants are: Rebecca Cottrell, the Harrogate-born wife of the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell; Jan Garrill, the chief executive of the Two Ridings Community Foundation; and Dr Bill Scott, the chief executive of Middlesbrough-based engineering company Wilton Universal Group. 

Mr Ali’s work has taken him from investigating major crime gangs on the streets of London to hostile locations in Libya. He has retired as a detective chief inspector, but still assists the Metropolitan Police in a consultancy role, as well as undertaking inquiries for other police services, such as the Police Service of Northern Ireland to re-investigate paramilitary murders.  

He has also helped the British overseas territory of Turks and Caicos, following a spike in organised crime-related homicides. 

Ms Cottrell, who was born in Harrogate and grew up in Essex, is a trained potter, making and selling pots and teaching ceramics, as well as working in schools supporting children with learning difficulties.

She also supports her husband’s ministry across the Diocese of York and has been a member of the organising group of two Lambeth Conferences, the worldwide gatherings of Anglican bishops and their spouses, which are held every decade.

Mrs Ropner, who has been Lord-Lieutenant for North Yorkshire since 2018, said:

“The new deputy lieutenants bring a great deal of experience and expertise and will play a vital role in helping build even closer links with the community. 

“They provide a breadth of knowledge that will prove to be invaluable in aiding the work of the lord lieutenant’s office, and it is a privilege to announce their appointments.” 

There are now 38 deputy lieutenants across the North Yorkshire lieutenancy’s area, who have been appointed from sectors including academia, the military, business, the judiciary, farming and the charity and voluntary sector. 

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North Yorkshire Police’s chief constable has described the case of a Metropolitan Police officer who raped 12 woman across two decades as “absolutely abhorrent”.

David Carrick, 48, admitted dozens of rape and sexual offences against his victims while serving in the force.

He was sacked today following a misconduct hearing.

Speaking at a Harrogate Borough Council overview and scrutiny meeting last night, Lisa Winward, chief constable of North Yorkshire Police, said Carrick was not “one of us”.

She said:

“The story that has been in the media today in relation to the Metropolitan Police officer is absolutely abhorrent. 

“It is not something that we would associated with someone who is employed to keep people safe and enforce the law.”

Ms Winward added:

“These sort of cases are a shock to people who work in policing and care about policing and we don’t deem those individuals who involve themselves in that sort of behaviour to be one of us.”

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This morning, Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley apologised and told the BBC that opportunities were missed to remove Carrick from his position.

The news comes as it was revealed at a police, fire and crime panel last week that more than half of recorded violent crimes in North Yorkshire and York are against women and girls.

Simon Dennis, chief executive of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner’s office, said in York in 2021/22 there had been 5,615 violent crimes, of which 52% were linked to a female victim and 34% were marked as domestic abuse.

He said the statistics for North Yorkshire were almost exactly the same.

Mr Dennis said a full picture of the scale of violence against women and girls was difficult to outline due to under-reporting, which was a known issue being addressed by public sector organisations across North Yorkshire and York.

Ms Winward told a meeting the under-reporting of such offences meant the known incidents were “just the tip of the iceberg”.