Last Updated – Feb 13, 2021

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Hampshire police officers sacked over ‘shameful’ language

January 8th 2021

Five officers in an elite unit caught making racist, sexist and homophobic remarks have been sacked for their “shameful” conduct. A covert bug recorded members of Hampshire police’s serious organised crime unit wishing death on foreigners, and an investigation found that part of the office where a black officer worked was called “Africa corner”. Olivia Pinkney, Hampshire’s chief constable, accepted that the disastrous episode had “undermined the trust and confidence of our communities and damaged the reputations of their colleagues”. Six officers were last month found guilty of gross misconduct. A discipline tribunal on Friday ruled that three officers who were still serving should be dismissed without notice. They are DS Oliver Lage, DS Gregory Willcox and PC James Oldfield (Also turned up to work drunk in 2017). Two who have already left the force were told they would also have been sacked if they were still serving. They are the officer in charge of the unit, retired Detective Inspector Tim Ireson, and former PC Craig Bannerman.

Detective Inspector Timothy Ireson

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DS Oliver Lage

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All five would be placed on a list banning them from working in policing. A sixth officer, trainee DC Andrew Ferguson, who had only recently joined the unit before the investigation started, escaped with a final written warning. The Guardian understands a complaint from a fellow officer triggered the investigation, and from 9 March and 2 April 2018, a covert listening device was placed in the office where the unit worked.

“It was a unit that was racist: a black officer is described as a ‘pavement special’ ~Jason Beer QC

People are described as ‘pikeys’; a black officer is accused of behaving like a colonial overseer running a plantation of white people. When speaking to a black officer, a colleague puts on a fake Caribbean accent – in fact he was from Ghana.” Beer also told the hearing that the unit was sexist: “Women were called or referred to as ‘whores’, ‘sluts’, ‘sweet tits’ or ‘sugar tits’, ‘Dorises’, ‘a fucking Doris’ … A suspect is called a ‘fucking cunt’. And the officers ponder amongst themselves if a person using the Tannoy system is ‘getting any cock’.”

Handing down the punishments on Friday, John Bassett, the chair of the tribunal, said: “Police officers, whether individually or as a unit, cannot pick and choose which of the standards they will abide by. In particular, it is not open to members of a particular unit to disregard some of the standards in the belief that this makes them more of an effective or cohesive unit. “In the panel’s opinion, the matters it has found proved are the antithesis of what the public expects and what is clearly set out in the standards of public behaviour.

“The conduct in question was shameful.” ~John Bassett, the chair of the tribunal

SOURCE = The Guardian

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It has not been revealed when the suspension of the officers ended and Humberside Police has declined to comment on the investigation and outcome at court. While under suspension the officers were on full pay. The length of time each officer was under suspension has not been disclosed, nor whether they remain on the Humberside Police payroll since their arrest in October 2018. However, former Chief Inspector Snowden has worked throughout the summer as Resort Manager for Cleethorpes for North East Lincolnshire Council, who appointed him in March of this year.

Scott Snowden – Cleethorpes Council – Resort Manager

SOURCE = Grimsby Live

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Stalking victim Helen Pearson rejects police apology over stabbing

June 29, 2017

A woman who was stabbed by her stalker has dismissed a police apology as “meaningless”. Helen Pearson, 34, suffered neck and face wounds when her neighbour Joseph Willis attacked her with scissors in an Exeter graveyard. She had made 125 reports to Devon and Cornwall Police about Willis’ stalking before the attack in 2013. The force said its “investigation and victim care did not meet the high standards we expect”. Ms Pearson said the apology “didn’t do anything” for her and said she was “still suffering every day because of what happened to me”.

“All I can hope is that what happened to me means police officers get more training and deal with victims of stalking better – so that no-one else has to go through what I did,” she said. Willis was jailed for life for attempted murder. A court heard that Ms Pearson’s flat and car had been targeted by Willis, abusive messages were daubed on the streets around her house and threatening letters were sent to her between 18 January 2009 and 21 October 2013, when she was attacked.

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SOURCE = BBC News

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David Duckenfield faces Hillsborough charges with five others

June 28, 2017

Former Ch Supt David Duckenfield faces 95 charges of manslaughter and five other senior figures will be prosecuted over the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. Mr Duckenfield was match commander at the FA Cup semi-final when 96 Liverpool fans were fatally injured in a crush. Ex-South Yorkshire Police (SYP) Ch Insp Sir Norman Bettison, two officers, a solicitor and a Sheffield Wednesday club secretary also face charges. Campaigners said the charges “send a message about accountability”.

Last year, new inquests into the disaster at the Liverpool v Nottingham Forest match, held at Sheffield Wednesday’s ground, concluded the fans had been unlawfully killed. The inquests found that Liverpool supporters were not responsible for the dangerous situation at the Leppings Lane turnstiles. For legal reasons, Mr Duckenfield cannot be charged over the death of the 96th victim, Tony Bland, as he died four years after the disaster, prosecutors said. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) must apply to the High Court to lift an order imposed after he was prosecuted privately in 1999, which must be removed before he can be charged. An application will be made to the High Court in a matter of weeks and a senior judge will make a ruling in due course.

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SOURCE = BBC News

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Off-duty police officer headbutted Hampshire woman in ‘road rage attack’

April 25, 2017

A police sergeant has been fined £828 for head-butting a woman while wearing a motorcycle helmet in a “road-rage” attack. David Sanderson was off-duty when he confronted two women in the car ahead of him at an Asda supermarket petrol station in Chandler’s Ford, Hampshire, on June 6 last year. Gaynor Byng told Worthing Magistrates’ Court that the 45-year-old was concerned that the women were using a mobile phone, but she said it was being used hands-free. She said Sanderson, of Portsmouth, began revving his motorcycle engine as he waited for the Ford Fiesta to pull away from the petrol station. He was then seen to attempt to undertake the car before it stopped and the passenger, Donya Bryant, got out and confronted him. Ms Byng said:

“He began shouting at them, telling them they shouldn’t have been on the phone. Both women told him to go and leave them alone.” She said the situation escalated as Miss Bryant, who was emotionally upset at the recent bereavement of a friend, swore at the defendant and threatened to kill him. She continued: “Mr Sanderson, still wearing his crash helmet at that point, head-butted Miss Bryant to the forehead. “This left a red mark the size of a 50p piece and a swollen lump.” Ms Byng said that Sanderson told another off-duty police officer who witnessed the incident: “You do not know what you saw, young man. I am police too.”

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SOURCE = Daily Echo

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IPCC to probe claims ex-South Yorkshire PCC lied on oath

April 5, 2017

Claims South Yorkshire’s former Police and Crime Commissioner lied to MPs are to be examined by the police watchdog. Shaun Wright was accused of “deliberately misleading” a select committee hearing evidence about the Rotherham child abuse scandal. The Independent Police Complaints Commission said it will assess the matter before deciding on whether to launch a full investigation. Mr Wright, Rotherham’s former head of children’s services, resigned in 2014.

An IPCC spokesman said an initial referral made by the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel in 2015 had been passed back “on the basis that misleading a Select Committee, if proven, would be a contempt of Parliament rather than a criminal offence.” But in 2016, the Home Affairs Select Committee said it had received two complaints that Mr Wright deliberately mislead the committee while giving evidence under oath in 2014 and had referred the matter to the Metropolitan Police.

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SOURCE = BBC News

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Muslim detective Nighat Hubbard sues Met over racism and sexism

March 12, 2017

A Muslim detective made an MBE for her charity work is suing the Met Police for alleged racism and sexism. Det Con Nighat Hubbard alleges male colleagues made discriminatory comments to her and other female officers when she worked at the force. She also claims she was held back while white colleagues were allowed to work on more complex investigations, the Sunday Times reports.

The Met said it was aware legal action had been brought. The claims date between 2013 and 2014. In a statement, the force said: “We are aware of an employment tribunal claim brought by Det Con Nighat Hubbard against the Metropolitan Police Service alleging race and sex discrimination.

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SOURCE = BBC News

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Police apologise for sending survivor meetup invite to dead victims of Croydon tram crash

February 23, 2017

British Transport police (BTP) have apologised for accidentally forwarding a message that was meant for the survivors of a tram crash in south London to dead victims. The invitation, asking if other survivors would like to meet to discuss their experiences, had been written by the widow of one of those killed in the crash in Croydon on 9 November 2016. Some 51 people were injured, some seriously, in the derailment, which is still under investigation. BTP is investigating how the addresses of those killed – Donald Collett, Philip Logan, Robert Huxley, Phil Seary, Mark Smith, Dorota Rynkiewicz, and Dane Chinnery – were included in the mail out. BTP said in a statement to the Evening Standard: “We are working hard to ensure that everyone involved in the Croydon tram derailment is receiving the support they need and sent out letters to invite people to a forum being organised by one of the survivors.

“Due to human error, this list of people we provided included the bereaved families. As soon as this was realised, we immediately contacted each family through their specially trained officers to ensure they had warning before it arrived. We are sorry for absolutely any unnecessary hurt this may have caused them.” This is the latest in a series of gaffes made by BTP since the crash. The family of Philip Logan were visited by a liaison officer who apologised for leaking his name to the media before informing the family. According to The Telegraph, the bereaved families also claim they did not receive the second interim report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch into the crash before it was made public. The Branch maintains copies were posted to all the families.

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SOURCE = International Business Times

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Child sex abuse is not being taken seriously by UK police – report

February 23, 2017

“It’s like we were wasting their time. They couldn’t be bothered with us.”

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De Menezes family call for Cressida Dick to be barred from leading Met

February 17, 2017

The family of an innocent man shot dead in an operation commanded by the woman tipped to be Britain’s next top police officer have said she should not be considered for the role. The family of Jean Charles de Menezes said Cressida Dick’s part in the 2005 disaster meant she could not “command public confidence” as commissioner of the Metropolitan police. In a letter seen by the Guardian, the family said Dick could not be trusted to ensure “that no police officer acts with impunity”. De Menezes, a 27-year-old Brazilian national, was repeatedly shot in the head at Stockwell tube station in a south London in July 2005 by police officers who mistook him for a suicide bomber. Dick, 56, has been seen as the frontrunner to be the next Met commissioner, taking over from Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, 59.

The decision will be made by the home secretary, Amber Rudd, who will consider the views of London’s Labour mayor, Sadiq Khan, a former human rights lawyer. Final interviews with candidates take place on Wednesday. In the letter to Khan, sent on Friday, Patricia Armani da Silva, wrote on behalf of her family: “At the helm of the police on that fateful day, when the life of Jean was taken, included Cressida Dick. “The IPCC [Independent Police Complaints Commission] investigation made strong criticisms of the command structure and the decision-making that took place that day. “As a family, we have always felt that those at the highest level, the commissioner and those in operational command, should be held responsible for the mistakes and for the misinformation and lies that were told by the police. “We cannot be expected to accept that the most senior police officer in the country, a post that is expected to uphold the highest standards of professionalism, to command public confidence and ultimately be responsible for ensuring that no police officer acts with impunity, be filled by someone that is clearly tainted by her failure to live up to any of those requirements.”

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SOURCE = The Guardian

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Police move sick driver’s car then blow it up by mistake

February 2, 2017

Cumbria police have apologised to a motorist for a mix-up that led to a controlled explosion being carried out on his car outside one of their own stations. Bomb disposal experts were called out to what police described as a “suspicious incident” after the silver Vauxhall Corsa was discovered unoccupied outside Workington police station in Cumbria in the early hours of Thursday. Following the controlled explosion, it later emerged that police had parked the vehicle there after the owner had been taken ill elsewhere in the town. Explaining the blunder, a police spokesman said:

“Due to an internal  communication error, officers dealing with this morning’s incident were not aware of this and their actions were conducted, and prioritised, with the safety of the public in mind. “Following the controlled explosion, the vehicle was searched and the suspicions were negated.” The spokesman added that the officers on overnight duty had become concerned around “suspicious objects” in the vehicle which were at the time unexplained. As a precaution the station was evacuated and a 100-metre cordon was put in place before a small controlled explosion took place shortly after 8am.

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SOURCE = The Guardian

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Met Police officer charged with attempted rape in south London

November 2016

A serving Met Police officer has been charged with attempted rape. PC James McKibbin, 30, an officer in Richmond, was off duty when he allegedly carried out the attack in South Croydon. The alleged offence is said to have occurred sometime during 2012. He has been bailed and will next appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday.

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SOURCE = Evening Standard

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Did the police not believe Stephen Port’s victims deserved justice?

November 25, 2016

It is hard to decide who was the more stupid and arrogant, the serial killer Stephen Port or the police officers who investigated his various murders. Having murdered Anthony Walgate, 23, in June 2014, Port simply dumped his body outside the communal entrance to his flat and called the police himself to report an unconscious figure lying in the street. Port was eventually jailed for lying about how the body came to be there. When a second body, that of Gabriel Kovari, 22, was found in a graveyard near Port’s flat in August 2014, no connection to Port appears to have been made. When a third body, that of Daniel Whitworth, 21, was found in the same place by the same unfortunate dog walker three weeks later, friends of the dead men began to make connections, although the police apparently did not.Port had faked a suicide note, saying that Whitworth had killed himself out of guilt that he had accidentally killed Kovari.

The police asked no handwriting expert to examine the note at the time, even after the coroner had delivered an open verdict saying she could not be satisfied about the suicide theory. The coroner also noted that the police had failed to trace “the guy I was with last night”, who the note requested should not be blamed. She also advised the police to have items found by the body tested for DNA. This was not done until after the death of a fourth man, Jack Taylor, 25, in September 2015. After pressure from Taylor’s family and others the police to examined the other deaths again. The bedsheet in which Kovari had been wrapped was covered in Port’s DNA. This the police had on file, of course – Port having recently been released from jail in connection with Walgate’s death, at the time when he killed Taylor.

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SOURCE = The Guardian

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Gordon Anglesea: Paedophile ex-police boss gets 12 years

November 5, 2016

A former North Wales Police superintendent has been jailed for 12 years for historical child sex abuse. Gordon Anglesea, 79, from Old Colwyn, was convicted of one charge of indecent assault against one boy and three indecent assaults against another. The offences took place between 1982 and 1987, when both boys were 14 or 15. Jailing him at Mold Crown Court on Friday, Judge Geraint Walters said Anglesea “grossly abused” the trust placed in him by the boys. “The consequences for them has been profound, indeed life changing,” he added. Anglesea’s defence said custody would be “extremely difficult” for him. During the six-week trial, the court heard one boy was abused in the showers of a Home Office attendance centre in Wrexham run by Anglesea, who was a police inspector at the time.

Eleanor Laws QC, for the prosecution, told the court one of Anglesea’s victims had tried to kill himself. In a victim impact statement, he said he tried to commit suicide “simply because I couldn’t bear to live with the memories of what that man did to me”. Another victim, who was sent to Bryn Alyn care home at the age of 13, described how he had felt fearful of Anglesea even as an adult. He said: “Of all my abusers, Anglesea was the worst. He was the one I feared the most.” Anglesea wiped his eye as he heard one victim had started drinking at the age of 14 and had been an alcoholic all of his adult life.

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SOURCE = BBC News

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The girl who was strip-searched aged 12 by police

October 30, 2016

They were “horrible and demeaning”, Georgia Wood says of the police officers who strip-searched her when she was just 12 years old. She remembers being taken into police custody in south Wales eight years ago by officers who suspected her mother of possessing drugs. “They didn’t explain to me until we got to the police station. And they literally just said ‘this is what’s going to happen and we’re going to do it’.” “For someone to just be so horrible and demeaning, I just thought ‘well, if I’m meant to respect my elders, aren’t my elders meant to respect me’?” she told BBC Radio 5 live Investigates. “And I really didn’t feel respected in that situation.”No drugs were found on Georgia, now aged 20, or her mother Karen Archer – who was never charged with an offence.

South Wales Police said officers admitted they had mistakenly carried out a strip search without an appropriate adult present and two officers had received management action. Karen and Georgia, who live near Swansea, have since been awarded compensation for their ordeal. According to figures released by 13 police forces in England and Wales, more than 5,000 children aged 17 were strip-searched between 2013 and 2015. More than 4,000 of those searches – which are normally used to detect drugs or concealed weapons – were carried out in London by the UK’s largest force, the Metropolitan Police. In total across suspects of all age groups, the same 13 forces carried out 113,000 searches in the last three years that involved the removal of more than a suspect’s outer clothing – which is the precise definition of a strip-search.

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SOURCE = BBC News

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Chief Constable investigated by IPCC over handling of sex abuse allegations

September 15, 2014

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How top QC ‘buried evidence of Met bribes to put innocent man in jail’: Whistleblower alerted court that ‘organised crime’ had infiltrated police… then they said HE had perverted course of justice

October 13, 2016

One of the country’s top prosecutors is facing professional ruin following sensational claims in a London courtroom that she lied to judges in order to hide damning evidence of police corruption – at the risk of sending an innocent man to jail. At the heart of the growing scandal, whose origins were exposed by this newspaper in February, is Sasha Wass QC, the barrister who prosecuted entertainer Rolf Harris and the £2 billion rogue trader Kweku Adoboli. A court has heard claims that Ms Wass not only buried an official report by the Metropolitan Police confirming there was evidence that officers in its anti-corruption unit had taken bribes, but that she prosecuted the lawyer who brought the report to the attention of the authorities for perverting the course of justice.

The alleged attempted cover-up almost led to a lengthy prison sentence for the man who blew the whistle, Bhadresh Gohil. The revelations were contained in a secret 4,300-page dossier cited in court last Friday. They include the results of an investigation by Scotland Yard’s Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS), which reports to Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe. The inquiry, led by Commander Peter Spindler, was said to show that a Met unit set up to investigate financial corruption was itself corrupted by ex-Met officers working for a private investigation firm, RISC Management.

Novice North Yorkshire detective handed rape case, disciplinary hearing is told

October 17, 2016

A POLICE force ignored its own policies by handing investigations into rape and serious offences to a junior detective, a disciplinary hearing has heard. North Yorkshire Police was also guilty of a catalogue of other failings that led to Detective Constable Nick Lane facing allegations of gross misconduct while working in its protecting vulnerable persons unit, said Steven Crossley, defending the officer. DC Lane denies his conduct in late 2014 amounted to a breach of the standards of professional behaviour, in that he failed in his duties and responsibilities and that his conduct had been “discreditable”. It is alleged he failed to carry out basic investigative enquiries, failed to conduct enquiries in a timely manner and failed to fulfil his obligations in relation to disclosure in a number of investigations that he was responsible for.

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SOURCE = The Northern Echo

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Kingsley Burrell: Three officers charged following custody death

October 12, 2016

Three police officers have been charged with perjury following the death of a student in custody five years ago. Kingsley Burrell, 29, died from cardiac arrest after being arrested following a disturbance in Birmingham in 2011. An inquest in 2015 found restraint had been a factor in his death. The officers have also been charged with perverting the course of justice. Constables Paul Adey, 36, Mark Fannon, 45, and Paul Greenfield, 50, have been suspended by West Midlands Police. The charges relate to evidence given during Mr Burrell’s inquest, the force said.

“After investigation by the IPCC, the matter was referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions who has authorised the charges,” it said in a statement. The officers, who are all based at the Birmingham West and Central police station, will appear at the city’s magistrates court on 31 October. Mr Burrell was arrested and sectioned after calling police claiming two men has put a gun to his head. Days later he died from after a cardiac arrest at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. An initial investigation by the CPS found in July 2014 there was insufficient evidence to prosecute anyone over Mr Burrell’s death. But an inquest a year later concluded prolonged restraint and a failure to provide medical help had contributed to his death.

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SOURCE = BBC News

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PC faces misconduct hearing next week

October 6, 2016

A POLICE constable will face allegations of gross misconduct at a hearing next week. North Yorkshire Police say he is accused of using inappropriate language on two occasions, failure to attend an appointment with a member of the public to take a statement, failing to properly investigate a domestic incident, and failing in his duties and responsibilities in relation to lost and found property. The allegations will be heard by an independent panel, and if found to have committed gross misconduct, the male PC could face dismissal, written warnings, or management advice from supervisors. The Misconduct Hearing will take place from 10am on Monday, October 10, at North Yorkshire Police Headquarters, Newby Wiske Hall in Northallerton.

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SOURCE = The Press

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Yorkshire police inspector keeps job after misconduct hearing

September 22, 2016

A North Yorkshire Police officer who took a statement from someone she was “closely connected with” has been handed a final written warning but allowed to keep her job after a misconduct hearing. Inspector Sarah Sanderson, who has worked in the Hambleton, Ryedale and Harrogate districts, had misconduct allegations against her upheld after a three-day hearing at the force’s Newby Wiske base. The officer was said after the hearing to have “faced a very difficult and worrying period in her life” during which “her career has hung in the balance and her husband has been seriously ill”. According to the force, the disciplinary panel, led by an independent legally-qualified chairperson, upheld the allegations against her “after deliberating for several hours”. Insp Sanderson was accused of taking a statement from a person she was closely connected with, contrary to good practice, and used the police computer system to access information for personal rather than policing purposes.

The force said she also “provided intelligence on a person known to her without disclosing this personal connection, and that this intelligence contained her personal opinion and unsubstantiated information”. The panel concluded that Inspector Sanderson should remain in the force, but be given a final written warning. Acting Deputy Chief Constable Paul Kennedy said: “Statistics show that North Yorkshire Police is rated highly by the public, but we do not take that for granted. “Where there has been wrong-doing, it is important for that to be subjected to the very highest level of scrutiny, and that is what the panel has done here. “Inspector Sanderson has had a long and, other than this, positive career in the police service, serving the community.

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SOURCE = Yorkshire Post

Rapist sergeant gets 18 years for attacking women in cells

June 22, 2016

Rapist constable who told his victim ‘I am a police officer, I can do what I want’ is facing years in jail

June 16, 2016

A police officer is facing years in jail after he was found guilty today of raping a woman and telling her ‘I am a police officer, I can do what I want’.

An Old Bailey jury found PC Michael Graham, a Metropolitan Police officer based in Hounslow, west London, guilty of seven counts of rape and one count of sexual assault relating to the strangling of the victim, who lived in fear and was left ‘absolutely humiliated and disgusted’. Court was told the 49-year-old,from Poole, Dorset, raped the woman repeatedly over a nine-month period and on one occasion was recorded raping her on an iPhone app designed to tell people if they snore. Graham, who was suspended from the police following his arrest last October, is due to be sentenced later today by Judge Peter Rook QC.  Graham, who denied the charges, used rape as punishment and would tie the woman’s hands with rope before he forced himself on her, the jury was told.

His victim told court she first went to police in 2012, ‘but they didn’t believe me’.  Graham, sporting a beard and wearing a blue suit, bowed his head as he stood in the dock when the verdicts were returned.  The jury found him not guilty on two counts of rape. His victim was sat behind a screen when she delivered evidence during the trial.  She said: ‘I didn’t think anyone would believe me, because he told me that no one would believe me. ‘And he told me, “I am a police officer, I can do what I want.”‘Graham said he would tell everyone she was “mad” so they wouldn’t believe her, she added. She told the jury he used rape as punishment.  ‘I said, “No, I don’t want to.” And he said he is a lot bigger than me. He can just put his body weight on me. He can just force himself on me,’ she said in court.

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SOURCE = Daily Mail

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SOURCE = The Evening Standard

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Single mother tracks down thief who stole her £470 iPad Air 2… only for police to tell HER to ‘knock on his door’ because they are too busy

September 13, 2016

A single mother tracked down the thief who stole her £470 iPad Air 2 only for the police to tell her to arrest him herself because they were too busy. Sara Gration, 37, from Derby, called the police after her Find My iPhone app told her the stolen device had been switched on. The app gave the name of the street where the iPad was and she dialled 101 and told police the information. But she was left reeling when an officer told the mum-of-two officers were busy and suggested she should go to the street herself and to ‘knock on his door’. Ms Gration said: ‘I couldn’t believe it, I was asked to turn detective myself and was sent to a house where I could have been put in danger..

“I was basically being asked to be a police officer and arrest the man by myself. What on earth am I paying my taxes for if I have to do the police’s work for them?”

‘Short of actually handcuffing the thief and dragging them to the police station, I don’t know what more I could have done to help the police catch the thief. ‘I appreciate that having your car broken into isn’t exactly crime of the century and that it isn’t a priority for them. ‘But how can this be the right advice to give? Derbyshire Police put me at risk rather than following up themselves. I am disgusted.’ Ms Gration, a bookkeeper, had her £469 gold-coloured iPad Air 2 stolen overnight last Thursday when her car was broken into outside her home. Several items were stolen, including the iPad which was in the boot of the car. The divorced mother-of-two, who has daughters Isabella, nine, and Tamsin, seven, was alerted to the theft by a neighbour. She reported the incident to the police who told her they would not be able to send an officer out and instead asked her to ask locally if anyone had any CCTV.

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SOURCE = The Daily Mail

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Met police routinely discriminate against black people, Scotland Yard diversity chief warns

September 13, 2016

Police are routinely discriminating against black people in stop and search operations in London as part of a misguided performance culture, Scotland Yard’s new head of diversity has warned. Victor Olisa said it was accepted practice to stop young black men to try and boost arrest rates for drugs such as cannabis – while officers turned a blind eye to white men who may be carrying cocaine. The chief superintendent said the discrimination was unwitting and driven by performance rather than racism but had led to a negative stereotyping of black people. Ch Supt Olisa, one of Scotland Yard’s most senior black officers, said police were more likely to stop a car with young black men on the chance of finding drugs than stop a car full of white men in suits, though they could also be in possession of cocaine.

He said if drugs were found then the officer would repeat the same process to get results adding: “You end up building a process and a stereotype. The cop on the ground is just doing it because of what he or she thinks is right, they are not doing it because they are racist.  “But when you look at the accumulated data you see massive disproportionality. I think that’s where we get lost.” He said officers should continue to carry out stop and search based on intelligence, saying: “You need to be able to explain as an individual why you stopped Joe Bloggs.” Mr Olisa, 57, who was the first black person to join Surrey police in 1982, said police discrimination based on stereotypes was much stronger when he joined, but it still existed. He said he had experienced racism in the police “some in subtle guises and other more overt, such as being called the N word by people in the street.”

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SOURCE = Evening Standard

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UK police will soon start bagging people’s heads during arrests

September 6, 2016

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SOURCE = Russia Today

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North Yorkshire policeman wore ‘I love weed’ hat on duty

June 13, 2016

A police officer wore a woolly hat with the words “I love weed” while on duty, a disciplinary panel has heard. PC Simon Ryan also defaced a suspect’s CV with the words “kiddie fiddler” and “paedo” during an inquiry into child abuse last year, the hearing was told. The North Yorkshire Police officer denies gross misconduct and apologised claiming it was intended to “leaven” the mood of colleagues. PC Ryan admitted his behaviour was “puerile”. During the hearing at the police headquarters in Newby Wiske, near Northallerton, barrister Edward Pleeth, representing the force, said the officer searched a home following an allegation of a sexual offence involving a child in January 2015.

PC Ryan took a copy of the occupant’s CV and wrote words to the effect of “paedophile”, “paedo” and “kiddie fiddler” on it, Mr Pleeth said. He amended the CV to say “abusing children” in the section marked “interests” before showing it to colleagues, the panel heard. The hearing was told he did not record it as evidence and later destroyed it at Northallerton Police Station. Ten days later he was on duty wearing the hat both in the office and while on patrol. Mr Pleeth said PC Ryan “demonstrates a total lack of insight into the severity and nature of this offending behaviour”. He said the officer admitted “tampering with evidence”, removing it and then destroying it. That amounted to theft of the CV. “The public are rightly entitled to have complete confidence and faith in the honesty and integrity of officers allowed into their private space,” he said.

“The wearing of the hat, even as a joke, was entirely inappropriate, as PC Ryan accepts.”

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SOURCE = BBC NEWS

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Germany asks UK to widen undercover policing inquiry

June 11, 2016

The German government has written to the British Home Office asking for the Pitchford inquiry into undercover policing to be extended to covert operations by British police in Germany. The inquiry, which was set up following the revelation that former Metropolitan police officer Mark Kennedy had infiltrated protest groups and entered intimate relationships under false pretences, is currently only set to cover Kennedy’s activities in England and Wales. But with Germany now following the Scottish government in submitting an official request to be involved in the investigation, pressure is growing to extend the inquiry beyond English and Welsh borders. The German request also coincides with a letter, published on Friday, in which campaigners threaten legal action unless the Pitchford inquiry is extended to Northern Ireland. Jason Kirkpatrick, an anti-globalisation campaigner and filmmaker who met Kennedy in Belfast, told the BBC:

“Unless the public inquiry’s remit is broadened, for anyone living outside England and Wales, the Pitchford inquiry is nothing but a painful whitewash.” British police have admitted that undercover officers have infiltrated at least 460 political groups since 1968, including in Germany. Undercover officer Kennedy is known to have been active for several years in a number of German cities including Berlin, where Kennedy was arrested for attempted arson but never brought to trial. According to Left party MP Andrej Hunko, one of the parliamentarians who have been calling for the German government to investigate the Kennedy case, British officers were deployed to infiltrate leftwing activist groups such as Youth Against Racism in Europe and Dissent!, a network that mobilised against the 2005 G8 summit in Heiligendamm. “The British Home Office must disclose which other German groups and movements were investigated and on whose orders,” Hunko said in a statement in which he also called for similar inquiries in Germany.

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SOURCE = The Guardian

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Corrupt Met Police cops ‘covered up gangland murders over decades’ alleges former detective

November 8, 2015

Bent Scotland Yard detectives helped a gang get away with several murders, a former policeman has alleged. And the mother of a victim of a gangland killing is convinced police covered up her son’s murder. Candy Dawson held dying Rocky, 24, in her arms after he was shot in front of his two young children outside her home. A retired Met detective has alerted the force to eight killings , including Rocky’s. The source said of the killings: “Many have direct links to police corruption, or intelligence suggests they have been covered up by corrupt police officers.” Candy, 54, said after we made her aware of the claims: “I’ve always believed in my heart that there was a cover-up. “The police have told us there were others involved who have never been brought to justice, and I believe there’s information that’s been swept under the carpet. “I’ve campaigned for nine years for justice for Rocky and I will not give up the fight until I find out the truth.”

The killings are among a number of investigations into an organised crime gang that have been tainted by bent officers over 25 years, it is alleged. The gang is suspected of avoiding justice for decades by controlling a cabal of corrupt retired and serving Met police officers , the source claims. The Met said it is not prepared to comment on the claims. Read more: Gangster who ordered Paul Massey’s murder believed to be in Spain Rocky was shot dead after putting his stepdaughter, then six, and son, two, into the back of his Fiat Punto outside Candy’s home in Hornchurch, Essex, in 2006. He managed to crawl back into the house, where he died in his mum’s arms. Gangland killers Christopher Pearman, 63, and James Tomkins, 66, were later jailed for life, but the Met believe others were involved in the hit. As a result, Candy wrote to her son’s killers. And in 2012 Pearman agreed to see her in HMP Frankland, Co Durham.

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SOURCE = The Mirror

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Stephen Lawrence Report Shows ‘Deeply Troubling’ Suspicion Of Met Policeman Corruption

March 3, 2016

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Crash victims may have lain injured for three days

July 9, 2015

A dead man and a critically injured woman were found in a crashed car three days after the accident was reported to police, it has emerged. Police Scotland found John Yuill and Lamara Bell in a blue Renault Clio just off the M9 near Stirling on Wednesday. The force admitted the crash had been reported to them on Sunday morning but had not been followed up, despite the pair being reported missing by family. The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner is to look into the case. Ms Bell’s family told BBC Scotland that they were angry and disgusted with the police’s handling of the case. They said she had suffered broken bones and had damaged kidneys because of dehydration, and had been placed in a medically induced coma. There have been calls for a wider investigation into Police Scotland’s response.

Mr Yuill, 28, and Ms Bell, 25, had been reported missing to police after last being seen in the company of friends in the Loch Earn area of Stirlingshire in a blue Clio in the early hours of Sunday. It is understood the couple are from the Falkirk area. A friend of Mr Yuill’s described him on Facebook as a “great guy and a brilliant dad”. Police Scotland had launched an appeal for information about the couple on Monday afternoon. At the time, the force said their disappearance was “completely out of character”. It later released a photograph of the car they had been travelling in, but it has emerged that a report of a car off the road by the M9 on Sunday morning was not followed up by police.

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SOURCE = BBC News

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Jordon Begley inquest: Taser and restraint ‘contributed’ to death

July 6, 2015

An unarmed man died partly as a result of being “inappropriately and unreasonably” Tasered and restrained by police officers, an inquest has found. Jordon Begley, 23, died in hospital after being Tasered in Gorton following a row with neighbours on 10 July 2013. Eleven officers attended Mr Begley’s home after his mother called 999 to report he had a knife. The inquest jury delivered a narrative verdict after a five-week hearing at Manchester Civil Courts of Justice. Following the verdict, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) “restricted” the operational duties of the officers involved in the case.

Jordon Begley was shot with the 50,000 volt stun gun from a distance of 28in (70cm). He was hit with “distraction strikes” while being restrained and handcuffed by three armed officers from GMP, the inquest was told. While the initial Taser shock did not cause his heart to stop, the jury concluded that the use of the Taser and the restraint “more than materially contributed” to a “package” of stressful factors leading to Mr Begley’s cardiac arrest. Another factor, they concluded, was Mr Begley’s intoxication at the time of the incident and confrontation with police. In damning conclusions, the jury said the officer who pulled the Taser trigger, PC Terence Donnelly, “inappropriately and unreasonably” used the stun gun for longer than was necessary.

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SOURCE = BBC News

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IPCC to investigate Lord Stevens over Stephen Lawrence inquiry allegations

April 19, 2015

Former Scotland Yard commissioner Lord Stevens is to face an investigation by the police watchdog into claims that documents were not passed to the 1998 Stephen Lawrence public inquiry. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said it would launch an investigation, following a referral by the Metropolitan police itself. The documents are believed to relate to long-standing claims made by Stephen’s parents, Doreen and Neville, that corruption played a part in police bungling of the case.

Stevens was deputy commissioner of the Met at the time of the public inquiry, which was chaired by Sir William Macpherson. As deputy commissioner, he oversaw the anti-corruption command. An IPCC spokesman said: “We can confirm we are independently investigating Lord (John) Stevens following a referral from the Metropolitan police.”

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SOURCE = The Guardian

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Police officer Otis Goldsmith in court over wife’s murder

March 28, 2015

A police constable has appeared in court charged with murdering his wife. Otis Goldsmith, 49, is accused of killing his wife Jill, 49, at the house they shared in Wootton Hall Park, Northampton, on Thursday. Northamptonshire Police officer Mr Goldsmith appeared at Corby Magistrates’ Court and was remanded into custody. Mr Goldsmith, who has been a serving officer for 28 years, is due to appear at Northampton Crown Court on Tuesday. A post-mortem examination took place on Friday, at Leicester Royal Infirmary, when the cause of death was confirmed as a head injury.

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SOURCE = BBC News

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Ex-undercover officer reveals that covert police unit spied on trade union members – full statement

March 13, 2015

Former undercover spy Peter Francis has revealed that a covert police unit that monitored political groups gathered intelligence on members of at least five trade unions. This here is the story on his disclosure. Below is his full statement that was read out by John McDonnell MP at a meeting in Parliament last night. The meeting was held to launch a new book – Blacklisted : the Secret War between Big Business and Union Activists. “I am humbled as well as honoured to be offered to speak tonight at such an important book launch here at the prestigious House of Commons.

“However I cannot appear here for a number of reasons, including and primarily, because of some very serious outstanding legal issues/difficulties with the Metropolitan police, that continue to hang over me ever since I became a whistleblower and therefore a potential criminal in their eyes. “I have received clear legal advice that me, even speaking here today, is likely to be considered a breach of the Official Secrets Act because I have not been granted permission from the Metropolitan police or Home Secretary to speak to you. “This remarkable, well-researched and must-read book clearly shows how police spying on political activists has destroyed lives and that I, most unfortunately and regrettably, played a part in this.

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SOURCE = The Guardian

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Covert police unit spied on trade union members, whistleblower reveals

March 13, 2015

An undercover police unit that monitored political groups over 40 years gathered intelligence on members of at least five trade unions, a whistleblower has revealed. Peter Francis, who spent four years undercover infiltrating political activists, has named five trade unions whose members he spied on. He said they were Unison, the Fire Brigades Union, Communication Workers Union, National Union of Teachers, and the National Union of Students. Francis, who has become a whistleblower in recent years, told a meeting in Parliament last night that he apologised “unreservedly to all the union members I personally spied on and reported back on whilst deployed undercover”. He has promised to give evidence to the public inquiry that home secretary Theresa May has ordered into undercover policing. On Thursday, May announced that the inquiry into what she called the “failings” of the undercover operations will be led by a senior judge, Lord Justice Pitchford.

In the 1990s, Francis went undercover to infiltrate the anti-racist movement and Militant, the left-wing group that became the Socialist Party in 1997. He was part of the covert Metropolitan police unit, the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), that monitored hundreds of political groups between 1968 and 2008. Last night, Francis gave a statement to a packed meeting in Parliament that marked the launch of a new book about the blacklisting of thousands of workers by multi-national construction firms. The book, Blacklisted : the Secret War between Big Business and Union Activists (by Dave Smith and Phil Chamberlain), describes evidence of how police covertly shared information about trade unionists with the blacklisters.

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SOURCE = The Guardian

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South Yorkshire Police ‘diverted funds from abuse investigation’

March 13, 2015

Senior South Yorkshire Police officers diverted money away from a child sexual exploitation investigation, a former detective has told BBC News. Thousands of pounds were used instead to tackle “priority crimes” like robbery, car crime and burglary, Tony Brookes has claimed. South Yorkshire Police said they were not aware money had been diverted. South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Billings wants a wide-ranging inspection of the force. Mr Brookes also told BBC News senior officers ignored efforts to open inquiries into child sexual exploitation in Sheffield. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, MP for Sheffield Hallam, agreed there should be a review.

Mr Brookes said the money was invested in dealing with robbery, car crime and burglary, which were the force’s priority crimes as a result of mandatory government targets. The money was diverted despite mounting evidence young girls in Sheffield were suffering serious sexual abuse. The recently retired South Yorkshire Police detective worked on an investigation into child sexual exploitation in Sheffield in 2007. He said he sought a budget of £24,000 from force headquarters for Operation Glover but had been given £16,000, a figure he described as “inadequate”. Mr Brookes claimed that just months into the investigation he was called to a meeting and told that the budget had been spent.

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SOURCE = BBC News

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No officers to be charged over Rochdale child abuse failure, say police

March 13, 2015

No police officer will be disciplined over a force-wide failure to tackle the sexual abuse of teenage girls in Rochdale, according to a report by Greater Manchester police (GMP). The force looked at the conduct of 13 officers between 2008 and 2010, but served notices of misconduct on only seven. Ultimately only one officer, an inspector, was found to have warranted disciplinary action but he was able to retire without any sanction being taken against him. The remaining six officers were given “words of advice” by superiors.

GMP took four years to complete the investigation under the supervision of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). The officer who retired had been in a supervisory role in 2008 when Girl A, the teenager at the heart of the landmark 2012 trial of nine paedophiles, made her allegations of abuse. He had been in the force for 30 years. A second officer failed to serve an abduction notice on Shabir Ahmed, the leader of the gang who preyed on girls visiting two takeaways in Heywood. A third was criticised for yawning while interviewing Girl A about her allegations.

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SOURCE = The Guardian

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South Yorkshire Police ‘ignored Sheffield abuse claims’

March 12, 2015

South Yorkshire Police knew hundreds of young girls were making claims of sexual abuse in Sheffield but did not act, an ex-police officer has alleged. Documents and interviews with ex-officers suggested the force failed to pursue a number of child sexual exploitation (CSE) inquiries. It also ignored intelligence that girls as young as 12 were being raped and assaulted, the officer told the BBC. The force said CSE inquiries were complex and could take a long time. Two former senior officers are being investigated by the police watchdog over their handling of CSE allegations in Sheffield.

A copy of a document from South Yorkshire Police’s intelligence database details more than 200 girls in Sheffield who were suspected of being sexually exploited. It also lists more than 320 men accused of carrying out abuse, mainly between 2007 and 2010. Most of the girls are aged 13 to 15 but some are as young as 12. The nationalities of the alleged abusers include a mixture of Iraqi Kurds, white British, black British, and Pakistani Heritage, among others. The document lists three members of the same family linked to the alleged abuse of almost three-dozen girls. In most cases there is no evidence police took any action.

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SOURCE = BBC News

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Corrupt policewoman who seized CCTV film of a street bust-up to be used to blackmail Steven Gerrard is jailed for 22 months

A corrupt policewoman who seized CCTV of a street fight in an attempt to blackmail footballer Steven Gerrard was jailed for 22 months today. Helen Jones, 32, a former Pc with Merseyside Police, took the footage by ‘flashing her warrant card’ to the manageress of a bank which was intended to be used to extort money from the Liverpool star. The film showed friends of Gerrard, the then-England captain, involved in a bar brawl near his home in Formby, Merseyside, which spilled out on to the street.

Local businessman Paul Lloyd, 35, claimed the midfielder ‘threw the first punch’ but, at an earlier hearing, prosecutors said the Liverpool midfielder was acting as a peacemaker on the evening of August 4 2013. Jailing her today Judge Baker told the defendant: ‘This was deliberate and calculated misconduct in a public office. ‘You deliberately created a false impression in the mind of the bank manager that you were investigating a criminal offence.

SOURCE = The Mail

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Supreme Court grants “judicial approval for the mass surveillance of UK protest movements”

March 3, 2015

This morning the UK Supreme Court delivered a ruling that amounts to what Netpol describes as “judicial approval for the mass surveillance of UK protest movements”. This decision is the result of an appeal by the Metropolitan Police against a decision in March 2013 that its secretive ‘domestic extremist’ surveillance unit had unlawfully recorded the political activities of Brighton peace campaigner John Catt. Back in December last year, when Netpol was granted the right to intervene in the Supreme Court hearing, we warned that a victory for the Metropolitan police would “make it significantly easier for intelligence-gathering officers to continue to obtain and retain data about protesters on an almost industrial scale.”

Today’s ruling does exactly this: it allows the police extraordinary discretion to obtain and retain the personal information of protesters whenever they consider it useful for purposes that are never fully defined, but that include investigating the ‘links between protest groups’ and their ‘organisation and leadership’. The Supreme Court has accepted that no further justification is apparently required.

SOURCE = The Network for Police Monitoring

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Syria girls: UK police deny Turkey information delay

February 24, 2015

Scotland Yard has denied it took three days to inform Turkey about the London schoolgirls travelling to Syria, possibly to join Islamic State. Shamima Begum and Amira Abase, both 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, travelled to Istanbul on 17 February. Turkey’s Deputy PM Bulent Arinc said officials would have taken “necessary measures” had they known earlier. But Scotland Yard has said it began working with Turkish authorities a day after the girls went missing. The girls boarded a Turkish Airlines flight at Gatwick, and would have required a visa to enter the country.

Mr Arinc said: “It is a condemnable act for Britain to let three girls… come to Istanbul and then let us know three days later. “They haven’t taken the necessary measures. The search is ongoing. “It would be great if we can find them. But if we can’t, it is not us who will be responsible, but the British.” The three girls had been studying for their GCSEs at Bethnal Green Academy in Tower Hamlets. A fourth girl from the school travelled to Syria in December.

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SOURCE = BBC News

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Chelsea fan sorry over Paris Metro incident

February 22, 2015

An ex-police officer and Chelsea fan has apologised for his part in an alleged racist incident on the Paris Metro – but has denied he is a racist. Richard Barklie, 50, of Carrickfergus, County Antrim, was identified as one of the people sought by the Met Police. In a statement, he denied racist chanting and said he wanted to explain the context of the incident to police. Chelsea Football Club has barred five fans after a video showed a black man being prevented from boarding a train.

Mr Barklie, an ex-Royal Ulster Constabulary and Police Service of Northern Ireland officer, is currently a director with a human rights organisation – the World Human Rights Forum – and has also worked supporting victims of the Troubles. Belfast solicitor Kevin Winters issued a statement on behalf of the Chelsea season ticket-holder.

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SOURCE = BBC News

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‘Institutionally racist’: London Met policeman in ‘planet of the apes’ race slur

February 19, 2015

The Metropolitan Police has been accused of “racial cover-ups” after failing to investigate an officer who referred to a black and ethnic minority (BAME) populated area of London as “planet of the apes.” A 41-year-old black police officer, Derrick Quarn, who claims he was “rejected for promotion eight times” due to racial discrimination, branded the Met’s Lambeth operation “institutionally racist.” DC Quarn, who served in the Met for 18 years, said he was “highly offended” when DS Matthew Price referred to Lambeth, South London, as “planet of the apes,” while surrounded by black and ethnic minority people.

The comment was made when racial tensions in the city were at their height in the wake of the police shooting of Mark Duggan, which triggered the 2011 London riots. “In early August 2011 after the shooting of Mark Duggan, there were several witnesses to DS Price in Lambeth commenting ‘It’s like being in Planet of the Apes’ in reference to the numbers of BAME [black and minority ethnic] people around him,” he said.

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SOURCE = Russia Today

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Hillsborough inquests: Police ‘threw’ fans back into pens

February 6, 2015

Fans trying to escape the Hillsborough disaster were “thrown” back into pens by police officers, a jury has heard. Adrian Brazener, a sergeant from Nottinghamshire Police sent to act as a spotter among Nottingham Forest fans, was giving evidence at the inquests. He said he shouted at police in front of the Leppings Lane terraces “for God’s sake let them over the fences”. Ninety-six Liverpool fans died after the crush at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final held at Sheffield Wednesday’s stadium. The inquests heard Mr Brazener had been outside the Penistone Road end but responded to a call for all available officers to head to the opposite end where Liverpool fans were.

The jury heard part of a statement Mr Brazener wrote shortly after the 15 April 1989 disaster. He said: “On reaching the West Stand I saw many policemen throwing back persons into the crowd who were apparently trying to get onto the pitch. “I believed it was to prevent a pitch invasion. However, as I walked closer to the fence directly behind the goal-mouth I could see that many people were being crushed and some were obviously dead.” Mr Brazener told the jury he started pulling on police officers, imploring them to let fans over the fence.

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SOURCE = BBC News

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Supreme court verdict now awaited in crucial police surveillance case

December 8, 2014

Five leading judges are considering a key case that is likely to help determine how much the police can monitor and record the political activities of campaigners. For three years, John Catt, an 89-year-old campaigner, has been seeking to compel the police to destroy the records they hold on him documenting his presence at protests. It is a legal battle that the pensioner – who has no criminal record – has fought in the highest court in the land. He discovered that the police’s “domestic extremism” unit logged details of his activities at peace and human rights demonstrations 66 times over a four-year period.

These articles here and here show how some of the entries in the police documents recorded how the Brighton campaigner sketched the scene at demonstrations. Other entries logged his clothes, his appearance and his vehicle. Catt won a crucial victory in the court of appeal last year when senior judges ruled that the secretive unit had unlawfully recorded his political activities. But the police went to the supreme court in an attempt to overturn the court of appeal’s ruling. The case was heard over three days last week. Detailed accounts of each day were published here, here and here by civil liberties group, the Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol). A Guardian article about the opening day can be found here, and reports here from the BBC and Brighton’s Argus.

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SOURCE = The Guardian

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Campaigners intervene in ‘unlawful’ police database Supreme Court case

December 1, 2014

The Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol), a national civil liberties organisation, has been granted permission to intervene at the Supreme Court in a hearing beginning tomorrow (Tuesday 2nd December) concerning the lawfulness of the Metropolitan Police’s ‘domestic extremist’ database.
Netpol, which monitors police conduct and challenges unfair and discriminatory policing, will intervene in the case of peace campaigner John Catt. The Metropolitan Police are bringing the Supreme Court challenge against a Court of Appeal ruling in March 2013, which found that the gathering and retaining information on Mr Catt was unlawful.

Mr Catt, who is 89 with no criminal history, was known for making sketches at anti-arms trade protests in Brighton called by the ‘Smash EDO’ campaign.
When he used the Data Protection Act to find out what personal information had been noted and recorded by the police, he discovered that details of his appearance, his vehicle, demonstrations he had attended and details about his daughter who went with him to protests had been retained. In total, there were 66 separate entries about Mr Catt on the intelligence database.

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SOURCE = Leigh Day

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Campaigner John Catt wins appeal over extremism database

March 14, 2013

A political campaigner has won a legal battle to have his details removed from a police extremism database. John Catt, 88, from Brighton, took his case to the Court of Appeal claiming the retention of data was unlawful. Peace protester Mr Catt has taken part in a number of campaigns, but has not engaged in any criminality. High Court judges last year ruled against his plea to have details of his activities removed from the National Domestic Extremism Database.

They dismissed his judicial review claim, ruling that his right to privacy under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights was not infringed. But now, following a hearing at the Court of Appeal in January, Master of the Rolls Lord Dyson, Lord Justice Moore-Bick and Lord Justice McCombe, have allowed Mr Catt’s appeal against the earlier decision.

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SOURCE = BBC News

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