Boss of Met police officer who was found dead at home after suffering PTSD from Grenfell fire was a bully who made impossible demands, inquest hears

• Nicola Forster was found dead at her home in Bedfordshire September 2022
• It was a month after an 'upsetting' meeting with her boss Inspector Hayley Webb
• A current police officer accused Inspector Webb of having 'no empathy'
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The boss of a Metropolitan Police officer who suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and was found dead at home was a bully who made impossible demands, a serving officer has told an inquest.

Nicola Forster, 45, a safety training officer at Hendon Police College in north London, was found dead at her home in September 2022 a month after an 'upsetting' meeting with her manager, Inspector Hayley Webb, to discuss her return to work after she had taken some time off.

Ms Forster had said to colleagues that Inspector Webb was 'out to get her' and that she failed to act on requests for an occupational health referral over her mental health problems, Bedfordshire Coroner’s Court previously heard.

The safety training officer developed PTSD after working on the frontline of the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, and had been suffering with anxiety and depression, coroner Emma Whitting was told.

Earlier today, sergeant Paul Hoppe, Ms Forster’s counterpart between September 2020 and April 2021, told the inquest of the 'extreme pressure' of the job due to a shortage of officer safety instructors.

He said Inspector Webb had 'no empathy or emotional intelligence' and made 'unachievable' decisions which heaped pressure on staff.

Sgt Hoppe said: 'I’m not talking about misconduct, I’m talking about bullying, it is my belief that there is a difference between misconduct and bullying somebody.'

In early 2021, Ms Forster told Sgt Hoppe of struggling to manage a colleague’s welfare while dealing with her own mental health problems, the inquest heard.

Sgt Hoppe said she was 'insistent' to him that Inspector Webb had told her to carry on overseeing the colleague’s welfare.

The inquest also heard that both Sgt Hoppe and Ms Forster spoke to another line manager, saying there was a lack of support from Inspector Webb, but he replied that she was the 'best thing' to happen to officer safety training.

Sgt Hoppe said he felt the response was 'out of touch'.

The sergeant said he advised Ms Forster to consider whether the role was 'right' for her, as he was himself in the process of moving on to another position within the force because he 'could not work' for Inspector Webb.

Sgt Hoppe said he thought there was a 'personality clash' with his boss, telling the inquest: 'I loved the job but I had to leave for a better life.'

Inspector Webb has said she spoke to Ms Forster about her concerns over staff shortages and her mental health struggles.

Ms Forster, who was born in Stockton-on-Tees, had been signed off from work about three months before her death, and had been prescribed medication by her GP.

The night before her death, Ms Forster told her partner Dr Amy Popple that she was struggling to sleep, the inquest heard.

She was found dead in her house in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, by Ms Popple on September 28 2022.

The house was 'immaculately clean and tidy', the beds were made and no suicide note was left, the coroner’s officer wrote in her report.

The inquest continues.