??/??/99 - Police Complaint O'Mahoney made re Gaffer incident

POLICE COMPLAINTS AUTHORITY

Dear Mr O'Mahoney

I am writing about the complaint you made by letter against Essex police on June 1999 Introduction: Your complaint has been investigated by the Professional Standards Department of the Essex Police. In the course of the investigation one officer has been interviewed and written responses were obtained from others.

Statements taken from witnesses and all relevant police records obtained. The investigation was then reviewed by a chief officer and has now been submitted to the Authority. The role of the Authority, which is totally independent of the police service, is to satisfy itself that the complaint has been properly investigated and to decide if there is sufficient evidence to justify misconduct proceedings against any officer.

As explained in the enclosed note, in reviewing the allegations made in your complaint, I have to consider whether there is a realistic prospect of proving to a tribunal that the officer’s behaviour fell below the standard set out in the Police Code of Conduct. This has to be proved on the balance of probabilities, which means that a tribunal must find that it is more likely than not that the allegation is true.

This is a flexible standard according to the seriousness of what is alleged. Your complaint: You say in your statement of November 1999 the following:

Detention:

a) A Custody Sergeant failed to ensure that on 18th May 1999 you received adequate medical treatment. He allowed you to attend Basildon hospital but you were not seen by a nurse or doctor and were then returned to Basildon police station. You say that when you returned to Basildon police station the sergeant failed to ensure you received medical attention.

b) The officers who took you to hospital failed in their duty by refusing you medical treatment.

c) Emma Turner was driven home by police on 18th May 1999. You complain that her details were not recorded, even though she was a material witness.

d) On the 18th May 1999 Sergeant (then Detective Constable) Stephen perverted the course of justice by allowing you to confess to a crime that you had not committed. You allege that prior to a taped interview on 18th May 1999 you told the officer the true version of events that had occurred. Despite this the officer had allowed a false confession, the answers on tape to be used as the basis for criminal charges.

e) Sergeant Stephen did not see or take a witness statement from Emma Turner on 18th May 1999 who was a relevant witness.

f) Sergeant Stephen incorrectly recorded the reply you gave to the caution given.

g) Inspector Gurnett was rude to you on the telephone in July 1999, when you rang to express concerns about your family in relation to the disclosure of your address.

h) The police had given out your address to the Festival Leisure Park in contravention of a Court Order.

Medical Treatment:

a/b) According to the custody record you asked to see a Doctor at 01.10 on 18h May 1999. Prior to your arrival at the police station you alleged that you had been squirted in the eyes with a noxious substance. A police surgeon was contacted and started his examination of you at 02.12 the same morning and finished at 02.25.

The Doctor’s conclusion was that you should attend Accident and Emergency for treatment, provided you were prepared to behave in a reasonable manner. Basildon Hospital was contacted and it was discovered that there was a 30 minute wait to be seen in Accident and Emergency.

Sergeant Stephen says he made the decision to keep you in custody, rather than allowing you to wait at the hospital due to your violent and aggressive behaviour. At 03.22 Basildon Hospital agreed to see you almost immediately and you were taken there, handcuffed, by two officers.

A Nursing Sister provided a statement which said that your demeanour was extremely aggressive and threatening and that you were continually swearing. One officer told the Sister that you had complained of having something squirted into one of your eyes.

As the Sister tried to examine your eye, she says that you were being aggressive and struggling so much that an examination was not possible. The officers were told this and you were taken back to Basildon police station. 3 Written statements were collected from both officers who escorted you to Basildon Hospital and back to Basildon police station.

The officers say that the sister said that she asked for you cooperation but as you remained aggressive, she was unable to do anything for you. Both officers accounts are supportive of each other in respect of this incident.

c/e) An officer who drove Emma Turner home says he did not take a witness statement from her as she did not want to give a statement in relation to the offence and refused to give details of her home address. She asked to be dropped off in The Upway, Basildon.

d) When interviewed on 4th February 2001, Sergeant Stephen said, that the custody record shows you were in the interview room on 18th May 1999 from 10.30 to 10.52 (22 minutes). The running time of the tape is recorded at 21 minutes 40 seconds. It is difficult to see how he could have acquired an unrecorded confession from you in the few seconds when the recorder was not turned on.

f) The investigation has established that Sergeant Stephen incorrectly recorded your reply to caution given. The officer admits that he made an error and explains that it occurred because he wrote the witness statement from memory and did not confirm the information with that on the custody record.

h) A court order made on 17th June 1999 at Basildon Magistrates Court specifies that your address was not to be published in the press. The pro forma was sent to the General Manager of the Festival Leisure Park on the 16tb June 1999, the day before the Order was made.

It is normal police practice to notify the owners of the site of the details of anyone arrested on the site.

g) Inspector Gurnett says that he spoke to you on the telephone and you were accusing another officer of contravening a Court Order. The Inspector says that as he tried to establish the exact nature of your complaint you terminated the conversation.

The Investigating Officer has informed me that you taped this conversation but have refused to supply of the tape Conclusion: There is one allegation where I am satisfied there is a realistic prospect that a tribunal would find that Sergeant Stephen did record an incorrect reply to the caution following charge.

It is the intention of the Force to have Sergeant Stephen seen by his Divisional Commander and advised with regard to the importance of accurately recording information. Advice is a form of police discipline similar to an oral warning, and is neither given nor received lightly.

Having considered the remainder of the circumstances of this complaint, I am not satisfied that there is a realistic prospect that a tribunal would find that the conduct of the officers fell below the required standard, and conclude that misconduct proceedings cannot be justified.

I am satisfied that your complaint has been properly investigated.