A FORMER senior terror cop who left top secret documents in the boot of his car has failed in a last-minute attempt to avert his imminent dismissal.

West Midlands Police assistant chief constable Marcus Beale, 54, pleaded guilty in December to breaching the Official Secrets Act.

A secure briefcase containing the secret documents was stolen from his car, having been left in the vehicle for five days last May.

The documents have never been recovered.

Last month, a disciplinary panel recommended that Mr Beale be dismissed without notice for gross misconduct, which would mean him losing a £215,000 tax-free pension lump sum.

But Mr Beale sought to challenge the decision, alleging apparent bias on the part of panel chair Corinna Ferguson.

He also said that Chief Constable Dave Thompson had had dinner with a panel member the night before the disciplinary hearing, but this fact had not been disclosed.

John Beggs QC, for Mr Beale, said that if the court ruled against his client, he would go before a hearing this morning “at which he will likely be dismissed.”

He alleged that the decision would be based on the recommendation of a panel whose proceedings were “tainted.”

Mr Beggs said that Ms Ferguson had not disclosed her involvement in a campaign against Project Champion, a controversial West Midlands Police  project, while working for campaign group Liberty.

He added that Mr Thompson “dined with one of the panel members, Sir Tom Winsor, the chief inspector of constabulary, on the night before the special case hearing.”

He said Mr Beale was “for 29 years a modest and diffident man,” but had been described by former top anti-terrorism officer Mark Rowley as “having made a significant contribution last year to the saving of lives.”

Mr Beggs said that, if dismissed, Mr Beale “immediately goes onto the police barred list.”

The lawyer said his client was “very marketable in the private sector,” but if he was sacked, it would be “nigh on impossible” for him to “recover his market position.”

Nonetheless, Mr Justice Jay rejected Mr Beale’s request for permission to appeal, finding that the claims of apparent bias had not been made out.

A hearing to determine Mr Beale’s punishment is still listed for this morning, pending late developments.