24 June - Perhaps the dozen Bexley cops under investigation can be increased to 13
It is exactly six months since I sent
a formal complaint to Bexley police
alleging that they were either incompetent or corrupt.
They had acted on the instructions of Councillor Don Massey and
sent three
officers to my front door (one stayed in their car) demanding an interview
(and threatening arrest for any resistance) for publishing what they said was a
photograph of the Massey’s daughter Victoria. One of the police officers told me that
the complaint was made by Victoria Massey although subsequent correspondence
indicated that was not true.
I had taken the advice of an experienced and university qualified journalist before publishing that
photograph and was told that as it had been made freely available on the internet by its owner
there was no reason not to. I decided to blur it although I was specifically advised there was
absolutely no need to do so.
If you read the original blog reproduced below, you will see that most of it
was a criticism of the police over their handling of a complaint by the Massey’s unfortunate next door neighbour
in Sidcup. When she made a late night call to the police about the unrelenting noise coming
yet again from the Massey’s
rented house they volunteered to pay a visit. A few days later, and after
her story was published here,
it was that neighbour who found herself the subject of a harassment investigation and not the Masseys.
Nothing much has happened since
the police harassed the family
living next door to Councillor Massey’s rented house in Sidcup. The householder had previously asked the police for advice on
a noisy all night party at the Massey’s place. As a
result of what the police could hear down the phone, they decided to pay a visit.
With the complainant’s consent the story was reported here and it seems reasonable to assume that
the police were asked to get heavy. Who do you think might indulge in such revenge?
Police procedures are clear enough; those accused of harassment must be told exactly what
they are accused of so that they have every opportunity to modify their
behaviour. The falsely accused neighbour asked Bexley police for a copy of the
complaint against them. They were made to fill in a request form three weeks ago and told they’d get a copy
of the complaint against them within a couple of days.
They are still waiting and the latest advice is that it will take 40 days to
provide a copy of the complaint the Massey’s were said to have made against their long-suffering neighbour.
All is now becoming clear. A properly executed Harassment warning requires the issue of a
Form 9993 and a written statement of what the alleged offence is.
How else is the accused supposed to know what the problem is?
No such form has been issued. It looks likely that someone reminded the police
that their first duty is to protect Bexley Council and suggested the
frighteners should be put on an innocent resident. This is how Bexley police has operated in
the past although I had hoped they had learned their lesson.
The 40 days is the period allowed for a Subject Access Request to be made under
the Data Protection Act. If no Form 9993 was issued Bexley Police will be hard
pressed to come up with any reason for putting the screws on the Massey’s
neighbour. If they cannot provide evidence that the Massey’s made a formal
complaint, albeit a malicious one, and there was nothing more than a word in a
receptive ear, it will become clear that Borough Commander
Jeff Boothe’s force is still in the business of jumping to Bexley Council’s
tune. The case will inevitably go to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
It took seven months for the police to decide what was obvious all along, that
my blog was not a criminal harassment of any member of the Massey family.
My complaint against Bexley police is based on the assurance I was given by
the professional journalist that what has been repeated above does not get within a
million miles of being harassment and neither did
an earlier blog revealing that
the Massey’s care services business had failed and their principal residence was
in Rochester. Both facts had been put in the public domain by the Masseys, on
the Companies House website, on Facebook and by changes made to their Council
Register of Interests.
Had the blog been anywhere near being harassment I might understand why a police
investigation would be required and I asked the police to either prove to me that I
was close to breaking the law or admit that they merely jumped because
Councillor Don Massey told them to.
As yet, six months on from my complaint, Bexley police has failed to do either.
The alternatives appear to be that they admit to having yet again taken orders from Bexley Council without any justification in law, in which case I
will not take the matter further in the expectation they never do it again, or they attempt to make out a case that the
blog came close to breaching the law, in which case the matter will take the familiar path which has already led to
twelve Bexley police officers being
interviewed under caution because they cannot resist doing favours for the
rotten elements within Bexley Council.