18 June - Police procrastination
It is usual when complaining to the police to get a dismissive reply if one
gets one at all so I wasn’t too hopeful when
I reminded the Metropolitan
Police’s Commissioner that it was three years since Elwyn Bryant and I first brought to his
attention the dishonest relationship between Bexley’s council and their military wing in Arnsberg Way.
That first letter brought forth a response which was dishonest and reliant on
techno-nonsense that would fool only those who are
totally ignorant of how the web works.
Fortunately the Independent Police Complaints Commission were quick to spot
the flaws in the police argument. Since then silence from the Met, or to be more precise, a quarterly
apology for not having the time to do anything.
The IPCC has no power to give them a kick up the rear end although they have assured me that they use the case
as a prime example of what is wrong with the complaints procedures in London.
I suppose it is something of an achievement that
following my written reminder the Commissioner sent me a
personal letter on his own office notepaper signed by himself. However the bad news is that he has
passed the complaint to the same place as before. But maybe his intervention carries some weight. Who knows?
The lady who was
arrested as she flew into Heathrow from the States on trumped
up assault charges related to her husband’s extra-marital affair with a police
civilian worker, allegedly “for a laugh” is also being given the run around by
Bexley police. It is now a year since she appealed against her complaint being
dismissed by Bexley police and the new Borough Commander Jeff Boothe has washed
his hands of it, even refusing to discuss the matter further with her MP, David Evennett.
Is Bexley uniquely blessed with inadequate Borough Police Commanders?
Dawson, Stringer, Olisa, Ayling and now Boothe, or are they all like it?
Possibly Peter Ayling had had his fill of Bexley council and its potential for
wrecking police reputations. When asked to investigate allegations of Misconduct
in Public Office against Will Tuckley,
councillor Cheryl Bacon
and Bexley council’s Legal Team Manager Lynn Tyler, he passed the case on to Greenwich
Police. If he had not done so we would have been mired in complaints about
ignoring evidence and political interference as we are with
the Craske case.
Greenwich police have been thorough and took the allegations and the damning
evidence against Bexley council very seriously indeed. The case continues.