Victoria’s Assistant Commissioner Brett Guerin admits to making crude comments under fake name

ONE of Victoria’s top police officers has been busted posting “crude” and “inappropriate” comments about colleagues. He regrets only one thing.

Brett Guerin admitted to using a fake name to make disparaging comments about colleagues.

A SENIOR Victorian police officer has admitted to creating fake accounts and using them to deliver “crude, coarse and inappropriate” comments about former colleagues.

The conduct of Assistant Commissioner and the boss of Victoria Police’s Professional Standards Command will be subject to an Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission inquiry after his remarks were revealed.

The Age reported on Thursday that Mr Guerin used the name “Vernon Demerest” — based on a fictional character from the movie Airport — to make the comments during late 2016.

In one comment, Mr Guerin suggested former police chief Christine Nixon’s had “bent over” former Police Association boss Paul Mullett and “slipped a rather large schlong up his date”.

Mr Guerin, who was once Ms Nixon’s chief of staff, was referring to a Supreme Court decision clearing Ms Nixon of plotting to remove him from his role.

In another comment, Mr Guerin wrote “Master fisherwoman Chrissy just gutted him and stuffed a nice prawn up his filleted asshole ... No doing the Rex Hunt for this Rex Hunt. He’s gawn.”

Brett Guerin: ‘Embarrassed’.

The comments were referred to Victoria Police who confirmed they are investigating but that Mr Guerin has not been asked to stand down.

Talkback radio host Neil Mitchell interviewed Mr Guerin on his program on Thursday morning. The officer told the 3AW host he is “passionate” about policing but that he knows he did the wrong thing.

“Can I preface this by saying this is in no way justifying what I wrote,” Mr Guerin said.

“It’s certainly crude, coarse, it’s not the type of language that I want my mother to read about or my daughters but of course they have and there’s one person to blame for that.

“It’s language that was inappropriate for that, language that people would use at a barbecue but language I imagine people would not expect from someone like me, particularly in the role I have.”

He said that at the time he believed it was his right to make public comments, even under a fake name.

“I was Christine Nixon’s chief of staff for a while, I saw some of the harm (Paul Mullett) caused to her over a number of years.

Ex-police union boss Paul Mullett. Picture: David Crosling

Ex-police commissioner Christine Nixon. Picture: David Crosling

“I guess my default situation is when I see an argument being made that’s not fair I do try to weight in and bring facts and balance.

“The reason I did it under a fake name is clearly if I’d gone in under my own name it would’ve been associated with Victoria Police and that would’ve been the story.

“The mistake I made is the type of language, I shouldn’t have got down that low.”

Asked whether it was “cowardly” to hide behind a moniker, Mr Guerin admitted “some people might say that” but denied he was “trolling”.

“I’m not sure expressing a view contrary to an author is trolling,” he told Mitchell. “I don’t want to appear as if I’m trying to justify what I wrote. It was wrong and I’m very embarrassed about it.

“The lesson I’ve learned out of this is sometimes you’ve just gotta let things go.”

Mr Mullet returned fire after the story broke on Thursday. He told The Age he is considering legal action.

“Why hasn’t the Chief Commissioner suspended him? It would be in the community and the members’ interest that he be suspended, because on a daily basis he’s delegated with the power to make significant decisions against members of the police force for all forms of alleged behaviour, including this type of alleged behaviour.”