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News and Comment December 2015

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7 December (Part 2) - The answer is 42. Months

Today was an anniversary of sorts, it is three and a half years since Elwyn Bryant and I posted off a letter to Sir Bernard-Howe to complain that Chief Superintendent Dave Stringer, a former borough commander in Bexley, made absolutely no progress in his investigation into who set up the homophobic blog in my name. Or at least that’s how it appeared to me and Elwyn at the time. We subsequently discovered that the crime had been traced to councillor Peter Craske’s internet connection. The  perceived lack of progress was primarily to consider how, in the words of the acting deputy borough commander, “to resolve Peter Craske’s ongoing situation”.

That is why the complaint was later upgraded to an allegation of Misconduct in Public Office against not only Dave Stringer but also his successor who tried to cover Stringer’s tracks.

I have since accumulated a file of correspondence which is literally an inch and a half thick even when squashed as flat as it will go. Many of the letters are from the police to tell me they haven’t done anything yet. The IPCC is unwilling to do anything about it even though the case gained their support after the initial cover up. Apparently all a member of the public can do about police lethargy is to wait and occasionally moan about it. This is today’s quick effort to the current investigation officer.


Dear DC Xxxx,

I probably should have written to you before to thank you for your occasional contact letters during the latter part of this year, but as today is exactly three and a half years since Elwyn Bryant and I sent in the original complaint it is probably about time I did.

There is not a lot I can usefully add to what has been said before except perhaps that we believe we have been let down very badly by the Metropolitan Police whose priority has always looked to be to delay the outcome.

You are the third officer to have been put on the case. The first, Michelle Gower, produced a technically flawed cover up which satisfied no one including the IPCC.

The second officer, Yvonne Weeden, never gave any confidence that she understood what the complaint was about and on her own admission didn't even apply for the case papers for about a year - I could look it up - after being allocated the complaint.

I fully accept that it is a complex case that may have required some understanding of the internet and its workings but DC Weeden was unwilling to accept the offer of a meeting with Elwyn, myself and my MP all of whom thought it might help her grasp the intricacies.

If the Metropolitan Police’s intention is to demonstrate that they are reluctant to investigate the indiscretions of senior officers they could hardly have done a better job.

I have a letter from DAC Fiona Taylor dated 23rd June 2015 which promised a phone call to explain the situation. It never happened.

In due course I hope you will be able to come to the same conclusion that Elwyn, I and my MP did, that there was ample written evidence that CS Dave Stringer made no real attempt to initially investigate the crime and that both he and CS Olisa later bowed to political pressure when all the evidence pointed to the guilt of a Bexley councillor, just as DS Jacqueline Bishop told us exactly three years ago.

Yours sincerely,


On 19th January 2015, Detective Constable Yvonne Weeden wrote to inform me that DS Bishop no longer worked for the Met and she hadn’t been able to locate her. Google provided the answer within seconds. Not much of a detective is she? Just the sort of cop you need to follow up a cybercrime.

 

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