Turning a Blind Eye. How West Yorkshire Combined Authority Helps Local Police to Evade Accountability.

In this blog post you will learn how local authority organisations tasked with holding the police to account will fail to do so. Because even when there is significant evidence of misconduct on the part of the force, including attempts to suppress a reasonable investigation, the supervisory organisation will ignore this and prefer instead their own tick box review of police misconduct which fails to address or examine the policeโ€™s deliberate mishandling of a complaint.

The issues raised concern West Yorkshire Police and West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

One of the issues we continue to return to in this blog is the inability of supervisory organisations to be able to hold other organisations lower down the food chain to account.

This occurs for a number of reasons. In this matter it is both historically the case that locally based organisations tasked with holding West Yorkshire Police to account are incapable of doing so, but also when such organisations commit an error in their own review of an investigation they ignore the error in any subsequent correspondence. At all stages the emphasis is maintenance of public confidence in the police complaint system, which results in a failure to properly examine and investigate complaints raised with proper rigour.

This matter concerns West Yorkshire Combined Authority and their inability to be able to hold West Yorkshire Police to account when the policeโ€™s Professional Standards Department Standards Dept. fail to properly investigate a complain. Indeed even when they appear to have deliberately scuppered a complaint investigation WYCA do nothing. The authorityโ€™s website states that one of their functions is โ€œholding the Chief Constable to accountโ€ categorically this is not true. When an instance of abuse of power or process occurs WYCA look the other way.

Alison Lowe OBE is the West Yorkshire Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC). She is pictured below. The supervision of the local force is her responsibility and ultimately that of West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin.

Alison Lowe is currently the person next in line responsible for supervision of police after the local mayor.

But first letโ€™s travel back into the mists of time. 

Prior to West Yorkshire Combined Authority taking over supervision of police complaints in relation to West Yorkshire Police there existed a Police and Crime Commissioner. This was Mark Burns-Williamson.

During his time as police and crime Commissioner for West Yorkshire he proved not only significantly gaffe prone but also incapable of holding West Yorkshire Police to account.

The reason for this inability to hold the force to account is widely known. Burns-Williamson was involved in a messy love triangle in which he wrote an unfortunately worded letter to his rival. This matter was suppressed by West Yorkshire Police DI Simon Bottomley and since then until the end of his tenure in post in 2021 Burns-Williamson would avoid using PCC powers to hold the force to account. He was literally caught by the nuts by West Yorkshire Police who because of their suppression of the complaint about the letter had a significant hold over him. This prevented the Police and Crime Commissioner from fully exercising their reasonable duties in holding Police to account.

The Burns-Williamson inaction figure is available in bearded and clean-shaven variants. Optional dodgy contents of his office safe play set also available!

Burns-Williams time as commissioner was characterised by a series of notorious exposures of misconduct in public office on the part of the organisation he was tasked with supervising. West Yorkshire Police have an international reputation for incompetence and dishonesty practiced even on those in their own ranks and the period of a Police and Crime Commissioner supposedly supervising them was characterised by a new intensity of incompetence, corruption and smearing from all levels of the force.  

Now let us move forward to the present. 

The College of Policing publishes a Code of Ethics, which is routinely ignored and in fact the subject of of humour amongst many police forces. It also provides a series of guides of behaviour and conduct that it deems reasonable for officers to be able to show in the course of their duties. This covers a number of different aspects of policing and is in effect a Code of Conduct broadly similar to The Highway Code in that it provides a structure of behaviour that would give the public confidence they are being policed correctly. The more an officer adheres to what the College of Policing guidelines are in a situation the less likely it is that they will go off on their own tangent and open themselves and their Chief Constable to a charge of misconducting themselves.  

One of these guidelines covers how officers should conduct themselves when undertaking visits to the home of a member of the public. The code is clear in how officers should behave when on home visits.

This isnโ€™t photoshopped.
A lot of modern Plods really are this out of condition!

In an October 2020 visit to a member of the publicโ€™s home two officers of West Yorkshire Police attended. One of them breached the guidance in a clear and obvious way. So clearly in fact that the breach was obvious to all, including the colleague they attended with. This was subject to a complaint to West Yorkshire Police made shortly afterwards.

Complaints to West Yorkshire Police are examined and considered โ€“ although more often than not dismissed on spurious grounds โ€“ by their Professional Standards Department. The logic of allowing police to investigate themselves is perhaps better left to others to explain.

In this matter they did three things to dishonestly skew the complaint in their favour. The three facts below represent a salutary warning to anyone who makes a complaint regarding the police that they will seek to loose evidence not in their favour and misdirect the investigation.

One

A complaint of the breach of the Code was made shortly after the visit. The officers in attendance wore body worn video, which could have proved the substance of the complaint to be factually accurate. But the body worn video was allowed to be destroyed before being viewed by Professional Standards Department at West Yorkshire Police. No attempt to retain the material for viewing was made. Thus the first piece of clear evidence that misconduct occurred on the home visit was lost. Likely deliberately.

Two

Significantly also a witness present at the home address during the visit was not questioned or approached in any way by police investigating the complaint. Again as with the loss of the body worn video footage this likely occurred to skew the process of the complaint investigation in favour of West Yorkshire Police exonerating the officer whose conduct had been highlighted. In the same way police failed to interview the other officer not subject to the complaint of a breach of the Code. Again this is deliberate action to skew the complaint investigation in the policeโ€™s favour.

Three

Then in the most devious manipulation of the complaint process West Yorkshire Police misdirected the complaint by investigating the officer who had not committed the breach of The College of Policing guidance rather than the one who clearly did. This together with the destruction of body worn video footage – which would have proven the complaint was factually sound – and the refusal to approach a witness to the facts are suggestive of an organisation which has attempted to suppress an investigation which would have found against one of their officers.

This is not however a new thing for West Yorkshire Police. Their Professional Standards Department standards department has dozens of different ways of minimising, trivialising, diffusing and reducing a complaint to the point where, however reasonable and valid it may be, the matter will not be investigated or assessed with rigour due to it. The point of this is of course the maintaining of professional reputation.

What price police reputation and integrity? Well at the moment about the same as this old badge goes for on eBay.

The 2021 independent report into the murder of journalist Daniel Morgan and the failure to solve the crime by the Metropolitan Police defined institutional corruption as:

“Concealing or denying failings, for the sake of the organisation’s public image, is dishonesty on the part of the organisation for reputational benefit and constitutes a form of institutional corruption.”

In circumstances large or small the police are prepared to manipulate cynically the complaints system in order to get officers off the hook. And in such situations the need for reasonably effective and careful supervision of police Professional Standards Departments is clear.

However staff at West Yorkshire combined authority specifically the Deputy Mayorโ€™s office, who are tasked with supervision of police complaints where the complainant seeks review, seem to be suffering an unfortunate hangover from the days of Mark Burns-Williamson.

Police failed to find in favour of the complainant. The mishandling of the complaint worked rather well for them. So the matter was referred to the Deputy Mayorโ€™s office at West Yorkshire Combined Authority. This is the next stage in the procedure of the complaints process. 

The matter was initially assessed and investigated by Karen Grey of West Yorkshire Combined Authority. 

And important fact to remember in relation to any complaint that you may refer to such as a Police and Crime Commissioner, a local authority, or The Independent Office of Police Complaints is that the matter that was originally under investigation by the policeโ€™s Professional Standards Department will not be investigated again.  

This means that police can misdirect any complaint made about their behaviour at the initial stages of that complaint and that the later appeals stages will not look for or attempt to correct those errors. The complaints system is being tactically gamed therefore to maintain the policeโ€™s professional reputation. Local authority organisations and IOPC are assisting in this.

The body tasked with review of the Police findings in respect of a complaint will conduct a tick box exercise which is essentially to review if the police have fulfilled their own tick-box exercise within their earlier complaint investigation. There will be no investigation into egregious breaches of procedure or abuse of process.

In keeping with this the investigation of the wrong person was missed by Karen Gray. The destruction of body worn video footage barely warranted a mention and the failure to interview a witness or the other officer present likewise. In short the means by which West Yorkshire Police had skewed the investigation, by dishonest means and to evade finding against one of their own officers for a breach of the College of Policing Code, were ignored by the review process.

This does not in anyway represent effective oversight of the policeโ€™s own handling of complaints. The same personnel who were present when the organisation was the Police and Crime Commissioner up until 2021 have moved to the new Combined Authority / Mayorโ€™s office. Given that the reasons PCC Mark Burns-Williamson was incapable of holding police to account are well-known Iโ€™m forced to ponder what the WYCAโ€™s excuse for the same lamentable lack of diligence is?

The suboptimal nature of the Combined Authorityโ€™s review of the police handling of a complaint, the critical facts of West Yorkshire Policeโ€™s own purposeful mishandling of the complaint in order to draw conclusions that police had handled the complaint in line with their obligations

A further review by Julie Reid, Head of Policing and Crime at West Yorkshire Combined Authority, failed to acknowledge that Karen Grey had made any errors in the handling of the complaint. So in effect then while the original complaint was subject to malfeasance from police, the complaint to WYCA about Grayโ€™s mishandling of the original matter was also covered-up.

The ultimate price of this is paid by the public of course. While police are able to cover up misdeeds with impunity and the review organisation also fails to admit it has failed to spot key errors in its own investigation the standard of policing will never improve

An Easter Miracle!

Only around one in ten complaints made to the police of poor conduct, breach of the College of Policing Code of Ethics etc. are found in favour of the person whoโ€™s complained.

This is because poor, ineffectual and incompetent investigations into complaints are par for the course from police forces. The more misconduct thatโ€™s happening in a force the greater the urgency to suppress public admittance of this by mishandling complaints.

The mantra is โ€œWe investigated ourselves and found nothing wrongโ€. Every police force does this.

As a police force West Yorkshire Police has more to hide than most. Theyโ€™ve an international reputation for corruption and incompetence but also an obsession with maintaining a public image. Consequently obtaining agreement from them about their low standards of policing requires more of an effort than with most other forces.

In this instance however they were banged to rights.

A transcript of a online live chat with an officer left them with no wriggle room. This is proof of why all your interactions with the police should always be recordedโ€ฆ because the first instinct of most police officers when caught out is to lie.

The report made concerned a crime committed in the breach of s.92 of The Care Act 2014 (as amended). Wakefield Council had knowingly as a care provider created false information on a person receiving care in their area. This is a criminal offence under the Act.

Iโ€™ll write more on this in a blog entry one day soon.

Note also the length of the replies given. When police are trying to hide something in a complaint response they avoid discussing the subject, fail to speak to relevant people and avoid issues theyโ€™d find uncomfortable to discuss. Here, as I said, a transcript of the chat means they canโ€™t avoid making a finding against themselves.

It should be noted that police have still failed to investigate this offence reported. So despite an unusual degree of honesty seen below itโ€™s still a case of โ€œbad cop – no donut for youโ€.

I present the Professional Standards Department response in full with a few small redactions.


From: Allen, Gemma <gemma.allen@westyorkshire.police.uk>
Sent: 14 April 2022 07:32
To: XXXXXX
@XXXXXX <XXXXXXXXXX>
Subject: Your complaint to West Yorkshire Police [OFFICIAL]

Classification: OFFICIAL

Dear Mr. XXXXX,

I refer to the complaint that you made to West Yorkshire Police. I am sorry that you have felt dissatisfied with the service offered by West Yorkshire Police on this occasion and, where we can, seek to learn from feedback offered by members of the public.

I can confirm that this matter has been recorded in accordance with the Police Reform Act 2002 under Complaint reference CO-2675-21. Please quote this reference number in any future correspondence regarding your complaint arising from the same matter.

It has been established that your complaint raised the following concerns / allegations. In response, I have made reasonable and proportionate enquiries into this matter and can offer you the following explanation of the enquiries conducted, what facts have been established, the outcome and any proposed action to be taken:  

Complaint 1: Delivery of duties and services

Employee concerned:  Staff member 730037 Maroof

Details of allegation:

You state that the call taker has incorrectly referred you to the council to make a complaint whom you state have committed a criminal offence under The Care Act.

The operator has asked you to provide evidence that the councilโ€™s acts were purposeful and fraudulent however you believe that this should be the role of the police and is not your responsibility.  

Enquiries conducted: 

The details of the Police chat transcript have been reviewed. 

The call taker, staff member 730037 Maroof has been requested to provide a response.

The Department of Health guidance for providers regarding The False or Misleading Information Offence has been reviewed.

I have consulted with The Police National Legal Database (PNLD). 

A request for review has been made to The Force Crime Registrar. 

Facts established: 

The Police chat transcript shows that you have made an allegation to West Yorkshire Police that Wakefield Council have produced a social care document which includes the purported current health situation of a family member which is out of date. You state that your family members health has deteriorated over the past year and yet old records have been used to produce the report. You report that you believe this was an intentional act by a social worker as it was likely to avoid the provision of social care for the patient who would otherwise be identified as having clear social care needs. The chat transcript shows that the call taker, 730037 Maroof sought advice and directed you to make a formal complaint against the council in the first instance. You state to the call taker that the โ€œArticle 16 right to restrict the processing of the data has been applied.โ€

The call taker, 730037 Maroof has responded to your complaint to state that he felt that referring you to the Councils complaints process was an appropriate response at the time. The call taker has expressed his apologies if his assessment of the information was incorrect. 

It has been confirmed that The Care Act 2014 has put in place a new criminal offence applicable to care providers who supply, publish or otherwise make available certain types of information that is false or misleading, where that information is required to comply with a statutory or other legal obligation. The offence is contained at Section 92 of the Care Act 2014. FOMI is a criminal offence and the investigating body for that offence will be the police, conducted in line with the โ€œThe Director’s Guidance On Chargingโ€. The police can pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry. FOMI is a strict liability offence that applies to providers of care services as corporate bodies or partnerships. This means that a prosecutor has to prove that the information was, as a matter of fact, false or misleading, but does not have to prove that there was intent to provide false or misleading information on the part of the corporate body or partnership.

The Police National Legal Database (PNLD) outlines that Section 92 of the Care Act 2004 creates an offence so that providers of health services and adult social care in England, which supply, publish or otherwise make available information that is false or misleading, could be subject to criminal sanctions. The offence applies to a care provider as a corporate body.

92(1) A care provider of a specified description commits an offence if –

(a) it supplies, publishes or otherwise makes available information of a specified description,
(b) the supply, publication or making available by other means of information of that description is required under an enactment or other legal obligation, and
(c) the information is false or misleading in a material respect.

However, it is stated in law that it is a defence for a care provider to show that it took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to prevent the provision of false or misleading information as mentioned in subsection 1. This means that if the Council have already taken reasonable steps to rectify the matter then the offence has not been committed. By taking steps to restrict the data by invoking Article 18 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which provides an individualโ€™s right to restrict the processing of the data, they have fulfilled this responsibility. Article 16 of GDPR then covers the rectification of the data.

Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Fraser from the Force Crime Registrar has reviewed the matter and confirmed that your report is a state based crime therefore the Police only have to record the offence when the relevant โ€œpoints to proveโ€ are made out. Unlike victim based crimes the Police do not have to record these offences at the point they are reported.

Finding: The service level was not acceptable under the circumstances

Rationale: 

The information you have provided on the chat record shows that the matter has been reported to the council and that they have already taken reasonable steps and exercised due diligence in restricting the data. The matter does not require recording or further investigation at this time. 

My enquiries show that Call taker Maroof has attempted to ask reasonable questions during your chat report when he has asked you if you have evidence to prove that it was done purposely and fraudulently. The call taker appears unfamiliar with Police Procedures around reporting of potential state based offences however he is not a Police Officer and could not reasonably be expected to know that the offence of FOMI does not require criminal intent on the part of the perpetrator. The call taker has attempted to seek advice whilst you remained on the chat facility and it appears he has been given information which has led him to make a recommendation that you should firstly report the matter to the council. His assessment would have been reasonable and proportionate under the circumstances if you had not already provided information to suggest that you had already reported the matter to the council. It appears that the matter was not fully understood and that you required further clarification before the chat was ended. It would have been more helpful to your understanding for the call taker to refer you for an appointment with a Police Officer so that the outcome could be fully understood and explained in more detail.

In conclusion, it is considered that learning has been identified in respect of this complaint.

Outcome/Action: Learning from Reflection

Details: An opportunity for learning has been identified which has been provided to the call taker through his direct supervisor.

Complaint 2: Individual behaviours

Employee concerned:  Staff member 730037 Maroof

Details of allegation: You state that the call taker terminated the chat abruptly with no explanation

Enquiries conducted: 

Call taker Maroof has been requested to provide a response. 

The chat transcript has been reviewed. 

Facts established: 

Call taker Maroof has responded to state that due to time passed he cannot fully remember his reasons for ending the chat at the time. After review of the transcript he states that he may have felt that he had advised you what to do and so believed the chat could be closed. It may have been that you had gone offline after receiving his response so he assumed it was completed. He added that he canโ€™t say for sure given the time that has passed but either way he does not think that he gave โ€œno explanationโ€ as he clearly provided advice on what you should do.

The chat transcript shows that the chat was ended 20 seconds after the call takers last response to you.

Finding: The service level was not acceptable under the circumstances

Rationale: 

The outcome of this complaint should be read in conjunction with the information provided in Complaint 1. Although the call taker has remained respectful throughout the chat, it does appear that you had not been provided with a sufficient explanation of the outcome or the opportunity to understand the advice provided. This is believed to be because the call taker did not fully understand the police procedures around state based crime reporting.  

In conclusion, it is considered that learning has been identified in respect of this complaint.

Outcome/Action: Learning from Reflection

Details: An opportunity for learning has been identified which has been provided to the call taker through his direct supervisor

It is considered that reasonable and proportionate enquiries have been made into this matter. The issues you raise in your complaint do not justify criminal or disciplinary proceedings against any officer concerned and therefore the matter has not been considered by the Crown Prosecution Service. 

You have the right to a review of the above decision. Should you wish to request this, please contact the below review body by the 13th May 2022. Please quote the relevant complaint reference number (above) if you request a review. 

Due to the wording of your initial complaint, the review body is: 

West Yorkshire Mayorโ€™s Office for Policing and Crime. Should you wish to request a review, please contact:https://www.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/policing-and-crime/complaints-and-conduct.

Please accept my apology on behalf of West Yorkshire Police for any confusion, inconvenience or distress that this incident has caused, and I thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. I hope the above action taken re-assures you that your complaint has been taken seriously and demonstrates West Yorkshire Policeโ€™s commitment to continuous improvement.

I hope that any future contact you may have with West Yorkshire Police will not be adversely affected by this experience.

Yours sincerely,

PC 1449 Allen

Service Review Team

22566

Professional Standards Directorate

*   Email: Gemma.allen@westyorkshire.police.uk

+ Address: West Yorkshire Police, Professional Standards Directorate, Headquarters, WF1 3QP


How South Yorkshire Police Evade Investigating Crimes & Evade Accountability

On Tuesday 22nd of September 2020 I alerted South Yorkshire Police to a crime taking place in their area.

This followed the original reporting of this matter via an online form for just such a purpose. The online form had not received a response some considerable time after being completed, so the appropriate phone call was made.

This call was to the non-emergency number and it took the duration of a trip from Leeds to Bridlington on the East Yorkshire coast for the police to pick up the call, so around one and a half hours.

Finally managing to speak with an officer he disputed that the incident being reported was a crime. In fact I was advised to call South Yorkshire Police in relation to this matter by two other agencies that I had already reported the crime to: they considered the seriousness of the matter sufficient to warrant police attention. The officer spoken to was a PC PC Marc Horsbrough.

In the call Horsbroughโ€™s behaviour and attitude was lazy, gave the impression he couldnโ€™t care less and was reluctant to record the crime even when the relevant legislation was pointed out to him. More seriously he later he called me back and the content of that call amounted to unwarranted personal attack on me and a flat refusal to record a crime.

I should point out at this stage that the crime has now been recorded and the suspect interviewed: further developments are awaited. This took place only after the completion of a futher online form, not via the non-emergency phone service to South Yorkshire Police.

A formal complaint was made to South Yorkshire Police Complaints and Discipline Team:

  1. A complaint of a crime was made. This was done via the online form. That the response from the online form took longer than the 72 hours it states online for any action to be taken in respect of the referral of a crime.   
  2. That the online form had still not been processed some 7 days later.   
  3. That from comments made by Complaints and Dicipline in their email of 2.10.20 it would appear that this online referral has been lost.    
  4. That a series of phone calls were made by me on Tuesday 22.9.20 and Wednesday 23.9.20 to SYP to establish what was happening in relation to the online referral.   
  5. That these calls were either cut off when transferred to the appropriate department or else rang out for an exceptionally long period.   
  6. That on eventually speaking to an officer he stated that he had no copy of the online form in front of him but proceeded to dismiss the referral to SYP as being not something that police would deal with. This is incorrect. CPS guidance has been quoted that clearly shows the activity being reported is a criminal offence. The officer was Marc Horsbrough. working in either the Comms dept or Crime Recording around 12:45 – 1.30pm on 23.9.20.    
  7. That the same officer rang me back several minutes later.  
  8. That his comments on the call back amount to harassment and intimidation. His manner during this second call was offensive, uncivil and harassing.    
  9. That the officer concerned did this solely for the purpose of causing harassment, vexation and distress. On the second call he refused to give his name or service number when asked which is usually indicative of an officer misconducting himself.   

    That overall the standard of conduct in relation to this matter is sufficient to cause loss of reputation for the force. 
      

The complaint was given the reference number CO/665/20.

Calls to and from police stations are recorded on a system called Airwave. When South Yorkshire Police later claimed that they could not trace the officer involved they were simply being disingenuous: the record of all calls will have enabled an easy trace of officer identity and indeed the identity of the officer has been found out by other enquiries.

From 5th of November 2020 to 13th of March 2020 no communication from police was received in relation to this complaint. They additionally failed to respond to emails requesting a progress update. The Police Reform Act 2002 states that police should keep complainants updated every twenty eight days with a progress update on the complaint.

So I wrote to The Independent Office for Police Complaints (IOPC). I have addressed the issue in prior blog entries that IOPC is very significantly staffed by former police officers, and provided the results of a data access request showing this, and so they cannot in any way claim to be “independent”. IOPC wrote back on 23rd of March to state:

“Upon receipt of your correspondence, we contacted the Complaints and Dicipline [sic]Team Department (PSD) of South Yorkshire Police to ascertain the status of your complaint. The PSD have advised that your complaint has been recorded under their reference CO/665/20, and that the investigation of the matter is still live. They stated that they have asked the case handler of your complaint to make contact with you.”

Around a month later still no response from South Yorkshire Police. IOPC cannot investigate a complaint when it is still with the relevant force, meaning that they cannot step in on this matter and compel South Yorkshire Police to act.
So I again wrote to IOPC who stated:

“I have contacted the PSD and asked them to make contact with you and provide an update.”


I then wrote to police a few more times to chase an update on the basis that they had failed to comply with the instructions of their professional regulator. On 15th of June, some three months after IOPC originally made contact with South Yorkshire Police on this matter the following came from George Henson at their Complaints and Discipline Team:

“I can confirm the receipt of your email and I have passed it onto the case handler of your complaint referenced above.”

…which tells me nothing about the progress of the complaint. This was the last communication received from South Yorkshire Police in relation to this matter.

A recent update to The Police Reform Act 2002 states that police are only obligated to inform a complainant when something has taken place in relation to the complaint investigation. As there has been no such update the clear conclusion is that there has been no proper investigation of this matter. We are now over one year elapsed from the complaint being made.

Likely this is because the Airwave system on which calls to and from police stations are recorded retains data for a set period. The failure to investigate this complaint is probably down to South Yorkshire Police attempting to “run down the clock” towards the deletion of this data which will show clear misconduct on the part of one of their officers. This will enable their Complaints and Discipline Team to then dismiss the complaint on the basis of lack of evidence.

The original crime was referred to an Inspector Stephen Fennell and has been investigated, albeit at a very slow pace.

The exceptionally poor service received before this investigation took place suggests anyone living in South Yorkshire who has a crime to report should really not bother. The delays and wasted time attempting to contact police on their non-emergency number and their lethargic attitude which attempts to actively put people off referring a crime are bad enough. However in my case the officer, because I had quoted the relevant section of law at him, took umbrage. His fragile police ego had been dented and his response was to abuse me on a call back and refuse to record the crime. The actions of South Yorkshire Police since have all been directed towards evasion of responsibility for the actions of this officer in a way which breaches their duty of care and obligations to investigate complaints under the relevant law.

The Not-Independent Office of Police Complaints

Were you aware of the numbers of former police officers working for the supposedly Independent Office of Police Complaints?

The organisation describes itself on its own website:

We are independent, and make our decisions entirely independently of the police and government.

But a document that IOPC prefers not to draw attention to can be accessed online at:

Copy of IOPC staff diversity stats 310320 FINAL proofread.xlsx (policeconduct.gov.uk)

This shows the – frankly – shocking numbers of former officers and former police civilian staff employed at IOPC. An organisation that is supposed to be independent in relation to complaints made against the police.

Can it really be expected that staff working for IOPC are prepared to justly and reasonably criticise their former force or colleagues they’ve worked with hand in glove for years? Of course not. Thereโ€™s a reason officers on Twitter use the hashtag #PoliceFamily

Indeed the figures speak for themselves: thereโ€™s a roughly one in ten chance of a complaint made about the police being upheld.

In the event of a complaint against the police you would be better off ignoring the police complaints process altogether and moving directly to instruct solicitors.

More seriously in the event of a fatality during contact with the police the staffing ratio of former officers presents a considerable barrier to a free and open investigation of the facts in such serious cases.

Ainโ€™t life in Britain grand!


Dirty Tricks in The High Court

The text below is the wording of a statement given to The High Court in a set of proceedings presided over by The Hon. Mr. Justice Lavender on 9.6.21.

They detail the efforts of that judge to derail straightforward civil claims and to prevent the use of the civil courts to gain material in relation to wrongful conviction.

It concerns the application of a civil restraint order against me, the grounds for this being made and the manipulation of cases and civil procedure by The Hon. Mr. Nicholas Lavender in order to protect state organisations from the effects of their own misconduct.

Interestingly the only public bodies sending representation to the hearing were those within the CJS who have the most to loose from civil actions which would force them to obey the law. Equally of interest is that I was not provided by the Court or one of these parties with a copy of their statement for the proceedings.

The statement begins:

The original CRO of February 2018 was made in respect of an application for judicial review proceedings against Humberside Police and CPS in respect of their failure to comply with The Data Protection Act request for production of data. This followed their failure to produce materials under their obligations as per The Criminal Procedure Investigation Act 1996 which led directly to my wrongful conviction at Hull Crown Court in November 2016.

The GCRO subject to this hearing was imposed for a similar claim in relation to Humberside Police. In both instances the data sought from Judicial Review and other proceedings was information withheld in Crown proceedings contrary S.8 CPIA 1996.

Both CROโ€™s have been imposed following civil claims to obtain data in relation to wrongful conviction. The purpose of the CROโ€™s has been to protect organisations within the CJS from the consequences of their own misconduct and from having to comply with such data protection regulations which would produce the materials sought. The organisation with the most to lose from being made to comply with their obligations at law is the CPS, who have also provided the longest statement in these proceedings. The statement contains a significant factual errors regarding wrongful conviction. This is very CPS. They have been asked to amend this in an addition to their statement by email 7.6.21. There has been no reply to this. Again this is very CPS.

It has been noted across my involvement with Lavender J that he invariably acts to protect state institutions from the effects of their own misconduct. The original CRO was entirely made to protect elements of the CJS from the exposure of their malfeasance in 1XXXXXXXX5 in the Hull Crown Court and to frustrate and complicate the process of appeal proceedings in relation to the wrongful conviction. As such the application of the CRO amounted to abuse of process in such a situation as I was in. The reasonable thing to have done would have been – if the claims at issue were indeed poorly particularised – to have allowed for an amended set of particulars to be filed. But the intention however has never been to allow a reasonable opportunity for me to use the civil system to correct such as the wrongful conviction but rather to limit, deny and frustrate the ability to do so.

CPR 3C 5.1 allows other parties to apply for CROโ€™s. It is noted that in relation to all of the organisations I refer to in these submissions which are outside of the CJS that no such application has been made from any of them. This suggests that they are aware that the basis of civil claims made against them are strong and that the claims themselves are properly particularised and pleaded. The difficulty comes from a judge who seeks to strike out applications made and who in the wording of his Orders in relation to such reveals a degree of personal antipathy towards me which further suggests it is unwise to allow him free reign over any application or claim in which I am involved.

The purpose of the original CRO was to protect Humberside CPS and Humberside Police from the effects of their own misconduct and the revelation of their making substantial efforts to gain a wrongful conviction. And ultimately the CROโ€™s have turned out to be pointless. They have has certainly created frustration, delay and difficulty but they have not prevented the acquisition of documents presently in the possession of a London based solicitor and obtained from Humberside Police via the efforts of an independent justice charity which were sought as the goal of the original judicial review proceedings. Withheld evidence showing factual innocence, documents showing the police at one point dropped the entire prosecution and that it was accepted there was no travel to the complainant on the day of supposed offences has now been obtained. Also requested now are copies of statements not provided to the Court or defence in the original set of proceedings but known to exist as these are referenced in other documents which do. The GCRO and ECRO from 2018 onwards simply has made the entire process of obtaining documents more complex and lengthy. It has required the involvement of an independent charity to obtain disclosures and arguably has lengthened the time for which I am wrongfully convicted. This in itself is a further injustice against me.


I have been involved with The All Party Parliamentary Group on Miscarriages of Justice since 2018. I have also submitted evidence to The Westminster Commission on Miscarriages of Justice and am credited in their recent report for having done so. One of the areas I explore in my evidence to the Commission is how the civil system has been denied to me as a route to obtain evidence and information to enable to overturn of a wrongful conviction. I have been explicit in the background detail leading to the making of the GCRO and the ECRO and have stated that the CROโ€™s were imposed to prevent use of the civil system to embarrass elements in the CJS for their professional misconduct and misconduct in public office. Nor do I expect that I am the only person to have been subject to CROโ€™s to protect the CJS.

As stated all that the CROโ€™s since 2018 have done in relation to the wrongful conviction is to frustrate and delay. The evidence showing factual innocence required to enable a return to The Court of Appeal Criminal Division (CACD) is now obtained. As such the application of CROโ€™s in relation to matters pertaining to wrongful conviction has been a purposeful effort to cause difficulties in relation to appeal in such a way as to seek to end the appeal. As stated this has not worked and so the CROโ€™s in relation to wrongful conviction turn out to have been an act of phenomenal spite and vindictiveness against me personally as well as a means of attempting to protect the CJS from the effects of their own misconduct.

They have failed. Significant data showing the conviction is manifestly unsafe has been obtained. The appeal proceeds. It may be worth recalling in relation to the statement of CPS in this matter that the organisation withheld evidence of factual innocence in 2016 and continues to do so.

However Lavender J now has something of a bee in his bonnet about me, as evidenced by personal comments made regarding me in several Orders. Thus while the original purpose of the CROโ€™s was to prevent access to data Lavender J seeks to now prevent any other use of the civil system by them. I will now illustrate how this takes place, the injustice caused and the effects of this by considering the effects of the CROโ€™s in relation to other civil claims.

In DXXXXX0 the claim was issued pre-CRO yet the CRO was used as grounds to reject this running claim, the same applies for DXXXXX8. The retrospective application of a CRO to end meritorious running claims is an abuse of process and this indicates that the CRO was created for the purpose of ending meritorious claims against elements in the CJS even those which do not abut onto matters related to my wrongful conviction.

Now to consider the wider context: The civil system as a whole has fallen apart. The progress of any civil claim is met with incompetence, delay and poor service at all stages. The civil system was collapsing even before covid and is presently unable to function in any meaningful sense as a means of obtaining redress against any tortfeasor. To quote some examples from claim no. EXXXXX in the Leeds County Court. Court staff recently supplied the first defendant with my financial details in error. Kerching! Money awarded as a consequence. The claim in respect of the second defendant was delayed for over a year due to error on the part of court staff. Kerching! More money awarded. Presently a hearing due for w/c 26.4.21 has still not been scheduledโ€ฆ and on and on these errors goโ€ฆ
As a consequence of all the errors made by court staff a complaint is made each time. Over the course of the last year the errors made by court staff have resulted in payments to me of just under three thousand pounds made either by the court itself of by Customer Investigations at Petty France. On one occasion a payment of ยฃ450.00 was made for one single incident.

These errors are systemic in the civil system. They show an operation in total collapse and that HMCTS is in denial about exactly how fractured and unable to function the system presently is. Hilariously the initial response to any complaint is either to deny the mistake has taken place or else to ignore the complaint. Outright incompetence, lack of motivated staff and the prevalence of administrative errors are the significant difficulties that any civil litigant ordinarily faces in using the courts to correct torts against them. The civil system has ceased to function or have any meaningful purpose when the process of taking a claim to trial becomes in itself so prevalent with frustrations and difficulties that any settlement recouped is hardly worth the loss of time and effort.

On top of these issues for me are thrown in the difficulties created by the CRO.

Now to consider the issues raised by the GCRO created almost two years ago.

The GCRO began in FXXXXX6 in relation to Humberside Police โ€“ it is odd that the judge in question makes such CROโ€™s following claims against the police stemming from a constabularyโ€™s failure to act in relation to their obligations in law in order to protect their professional reputation from the consequences of their efforts to obtain a wrongful conviction. Lavender J made a GCRO which mirrored the ECRO made following the Judicial Review CO/5693/2017 in respect of the same organisation.

That in order to find material to justify the granting of a GCRO, as the claim itself had merit, the judge assessed and sifted material from as far back as 2012. This material was of course available when the ECRO was made but was not cited or used in relation to the same. This trawl through numerous past cases is odd since this material was available to the judge prior to the imposing of the ECRO in 2018. That this amounts to an incident of behaviour which chimes with some online allegations regarding the way the judge handles claims in relation to public bodies which I will discuss more further into this matter.

Thus the granting of two CROโ€™s in relation to proposed proceedings against bodies in the CJS gives rise to the suggestion that the Courts are acting to protect a wrongful conviction and the reputation of the CJS by the application of civil restraint orders and strike out of meritorious applications which would, if allowed to continue, provide evidence of malicious conduct, incompetence and malfeasance leading to wrongful conviction. That this forms an abuse of process and a breach of my Convention Rights as well as a manipulation of the civil system.

Let us consider one other example of how this works to create difficulties which I will confine to one case, this being DXXXXXX6.

In relation to the appeal into wrongful conviction fresh evidence has periodically been obtained from 2017 onwards even before the involvement of an independent justice charity who have since done astonishing work. Legally privileged material is created in the pursuit of appeal into wrongful conviction and legal advice is obtained which is also privileged. Periodically West Yorkshire Police attend my home to seize such materials which are removed and never returned bar on one occasion. Again as with the original CRO and its later incarnations the purpose of this removal is to frustrate and delay the process of appeal to assist the CJS. DXXXXXX6 was begun to obtain the return of devices and materials seized by police contrary to common law. The claim proceeded for some two years until the point where it met Lavender J who decided to strike out a civil claim which had been before three previous judges and which pre-dated any CRO. The grounds for this were that the claim apparently had no merit. If this were the case then it would have been struck out long before.

In the matter of DXXXXXX6 part of the claim was for the removal of and failure to return electronic devices. Even though no proof of wrongdoing in relation to the same is produced or subject to criminal proceedings devices are routinely not returned, replaced or compensated for. Assurances were given that I would be recompensed by West Yorkshire Police which were recorded in the judgment striking out that matter of October 2019. And immediately reneged upon by them. The purpose of the CROโ€™s in full can be seen here: that they work to deny access to the civil system at the same time as allowing tortfeasors to carry on towards me with whatever level of malfeasance they wish safe in the knowledge that Lavender J is prepared to act as a gatekeeper to the civil and criminal system to prevent the outcome of their behaviour from having any consequences for them. Consequently I have been subjected to what amounts to theft of electronic devices, legally privileged materials and also breach of agreement made before the judge. This has created additional work to recover LP / LPP materials and financial loss. These are the fruits of the CRO.

It is noted that Mike Percival of West Yorkshire Police was the person offering assurance before Lavender J in respect of the return and repayment for devices. He has made a statement for these proceedings but failed to attend in person as he would be liable to be questioned over the failure to act in accordance with his assurances. Thus any matters raised by West Yorkshire Police in relation to the continuation of a CRO must be understood in the light of this behaviour. Recent correspondence with Percival over the matter of the return and replacement of devices included a direct threat to me from Percival over his intended actions in the event that I did not drop the matter. Copies of all such emails have been retained. At para. 4 of his statement he refers to correspondence with PSD which PSD has not been responded to in line with The Police Reform Act 2002 and that matter is presently before IOPC. Percival fails to mention this. Indeed there is a great deal Percival fails to mention as this does not suit his aims of protecting his force from the consequences of their own misconduct. Sufficient materials available easily online from investigative journalists such as Neil Wilby will give reasons for disquiet regarding the integrity and reliability of Percival. It is noted that when a pre-legal letter arrives from a firm to West Yorkshire Police their first reaction is to conduct a harassing doorstep visit and this has taken place twice now on the days following pre-legal correspondence being sent to West Yorkshire Police. It is in the light of this that the reliability of the statement of West Yorkshire Police in these proceedings should be considered.
Indeed since the end of DXXXXX6 there have been several other instances of WYP removing legally privileged material or newly located evidence to the extent that any such in relation to appeal proceedings is now immediately retained wholly by firm instructed in appeal proceedings and not by myself.

Incidents such as those I have described above lead to my acceptance that regardless of the extent of the misconduct practiced against me that I now cannot seek assistance from the civil courts on the basis that any claim will be funnelled to straight to Lavender J who will dismiss the claim at the first instance. Again this is the fruit of the CRO. Whilever a CRO is in place it is an invite for misconducting organisations to bully, harass and commit torts against me. I now look at the efforts of Lavender J to interfere and end running claims not related to the CRO and which have been before other judges. In EXXXXXX4 I was surprised that a document from late 2019 from Lavender J should suddenly appear. This was claimed to be produced in November 2019. It was however supplied in the claim in March 2020 I further do not believe the account from the Court in an email of 4.3.20 (which alerted me to this document) that document was drawn in November 2019 and lost by the Court for some four months. The document is sealed stating 4.3.20. It was sent to me on 4.3.20 at 12:22.

Now on the day before this three applications in claim no.’s GXXXXXX8, GXXXXXXX7 & EXXXXX5 were sent 3.3.20 at 16:32. Each of these applications referenced materials located online which questioned the integrity of Lavender J . The content of these materials roughly mirrored the experiences I have had with Lavender J. As the site stated that he sought to close down any claim against a public body regardless of the merits of the claim. I have retained a full copy of this site.

The wording of the Orders produced in response to the applications made on 3.3.20 almost veer into personal attacks on me as a claimant. This is clearly anger on the part of Lavender J in relation to the materials found online and my reference to them in the applications. Then the sudden, mysterious appearance of an Order in a separate claim, which the Court stated was produced some four months late which strikes out the claim.

The three applications were that that the judge recuses himself from dealing with me in future, that prior judgments made by him are peer reviewed and that no further civil restraint orders are imposed by this judge. That the Orders of 5.3.20 in relation to the application seemed to suggest intemperance on the part of the judge as the online references may well have touched a nerve.

I then find that an Order comes through the following day from the same judge to delay and frustrate an existing claim and which is claimed by the Court to be from November 2019. The Order claimed to have been drawn in November 2019 was in fact not created at that point but rather by the judge in a fit of pique in relation to the content of the three applications entered with the Court on 3.3.20.

Is it reasonable to assume that an Order would be made and lost for some five months by the Court? Since the case file will have been accessed several times since October 2019 in relation to applications made in the case and hearing dates set etc. the assertions that the Order was drawn and “lost” are not credible. It is too much of a coincidence that it is claimed that this document was located so soon after the 3.3.20 applications and the intemperate responses to these applications in Orders.
Thus the claims regarding the Order being created in 2019 amount to misconduct in public office, and abuse of process as does the drafting of the Order itself. That this amounts to misconduct in a public office by judiciary and members of HMCTS staff.

That the judge at issue would – it is hypothesised – have wished to act to cause difficulty for me in a separate claim on the basis of the comments made regarding materials found online which were contained in the applications in GXXXXX8, GXXXXX7 & EXXXXXX5 of 3.3.20.

Of course this gives additional grounds for concern regarding the actions of the judge at issue and for this reason the applications in respect of this judge recusing himself etc. are reinforced by the actions described.. An application was made to request the judge recuse himself from any future involvement with me in those three applications. This was refused. The production of the Order referred to is an abuse of HMCTS’ staff, systems and processes for an improper collateral purpose. In this instance to frustrate the process of justice in relation to ongoing claims.   


And yet when Lavender J is not involved with claims they work remarkably well. Consider HXXXXXXX1 in The Queenโ€™s Bench Division. 
Over a running period of two years this claim was successful and achieved its goal. Before both Master Davison and Mr. Justice Eady none of the particulars were deemed to be inadequate in the way that applications via Lavender J are deemed to be as justification for early strike-out, or more often a late strike out of ongoing claims. The claim achieved its goals and progressed smoothly. Indeed such as DXXXXX6 also progressed smoothly until referred by HHJ Kelly to Lavender J who proceeded to strike out a claim which had been running for two years prior, doing so on spurious grounds.
  

At present any application in an existing claim or application to commence proceedings are referred, under the CRO to Lavender J who immediately acts to strike these out. Often this is done on the grounds that the particulars are insufficiently pleaded. However if HXXXXXXX1 can progress successfully at QBD where the standards of written particulars are higher then I would suggest to you that the pleadings made in claims are not at fault so much as the desire to strike out claims of merit to protect such the MoJ, HMCTS and suchlike. Several other claims have been issued in the last few years prior to the GCRO and have progressed to a successful outcome. Therefore it is not that I as a litigant in person cannot draft a set of particulars or issue unmeritorious claims but that claims against bodies in the CJS are stated to be this way as grounds for strike out.

Where it is not possible to strike out a claim on the grounds of merit or such a matter is outside of the field of Lavender J to interfere other means are deployed to try to dismiss claims. Consider EXXXXX7 which was a data protection act claim in relation to Doncaster Children’s Services. In January 2020 a hearing was held in Doncaster County Court before DDJ Nix. Produced for this hearing from Judicial Office was a copy of an incorrect certificate of conviction (doubtless the same that CPS refer to in their statement for these proceedings, corrected since). At the same time a copy of the GCRO was supplied to the Court by judicial office together with the claim that the case impinged upon the Order and thus stood to be struck out. The claim pre-dated the GCRO and did not impinge upon it. Of more serious significance was the production of the certificate of conviction since it was factually incorrect and clearly produced in order to sway the Court’s opinions. In an email from Jane Yoxall at Sheffield Combined Court the source of this malicious data was stated to be the judiciary. The purpose of the supply of both of these documents was to stop the trial due to take place. The claim was eventually won by me as the judge agreed that the GCRO was not relevant to the claim and a copy of the correctly worded certificate of conviction was supplied to the Court by me. But interference in relation that claim from judicial office is a matter of exceptional seriousness and shows the extent to which certain parties will go in order to delay and deny access to justice.
The person responsible at judicial office has never been located as judiciary hide behind the fact that they do not operate under data protection or data access legislation. However I am reasonably confident that I am sure in myself as to who was responsible for this outrageous and unacceptable behaviour.

Another odd thing to have happened was the inclusion of the judgment of Mr., Justice Butcher on CaseMine. It is odd that a case which had no significant features which would have resulted in it being included on such a site and indeed clearly set no precedent should have found its way into such a public forum. Perhaps because the judgment mentioned the wrongful conviction so prominently and significantly there were reasons why it was submitted by someone for inclusion on the site. A few persuasive arguments from me to CaseMine and it was just as quickly removed from the site. It remains removed from the site. However the appearance of it online in the first instance is perturbing: both of the above incidents suggest that suggesting that there is someone prepared to act in a cloak and dagger manner unbecoming to their position.

Lavender J is of course familiar himself with embarrassing material appearing online. I was notified in March 2020 of a specific website hosted by WordPress which is:

https://www.bentjudgenicholasLavender.site/(accessed February and March 2020)

I do not intent to repeat all of the content of this site here suffice to say that if correct then the handling of any claims and applications by The Hon. Mr. Justice Lavender J together with judgments and Orders made in respect of me are ripe for review. The site alleges that this judge mishandles claims against public authorities such as the cases referred to above and states a possible motivation for the judge to do this. This site and one other site contain allegations of perverting the course of justice by Lavender J particularly it seems in cases in which Police or local authorities are involved. I believe the site was produced by someone in the Norwich area.
The judge has declined to comment on this matter in the judgments given of 5.3.20 in relation to claims at GXXXXX8, GXXXXX7 & EXXXXX5. This fails wholly to address the issues brought within the applications that the judge may be disinclined to allow meritorious applications and claims to proceed against public authorities for reasons best known to himself but which are stated in the sites quoted. However it is noted that in addition to myself at least one other person has reached the conclusion that this judge will dismiss claims made against public bodies despite the strength of the case. In several Orders now the wording of the Orders rejecting the application made โ€“ often in proceedings that pre-date the Order tends to run the same. It is likely that there is a template pre-prepared in relation to this! I would be interested to see the wording of other Orders in relation to persons subject to a CRO from Lavender J to see if the wording is the same. The wording โ€œMr. KXXXXX wastes public costs and had done so for yearsโ€ always appears at a set part of the Order. Likewise other identical comments appear in the same position in other parts of the Orders.

In cases such as DXXXXX6 & FXXXXX4 applications were made in the expectation of a 14-day turnaround as HMCTSโ€™ standard. Both of these applications before Lavender J took six months before a response was received: in both instances the purpose of the application was lost because of the time taken to respond. Again this represents an injustice and the time taken to respond to matters is simply a further way of delaying and denying justice. This cannot be accidental.
The six months taken to responds in respect of DXXXXXX6 & FXXXXX4 did not apply however in relation to those three claims I mentioned earlier, being GXXXXX8, GXXXXX7 & EXXXXX5. In the applications for each of these I mentioned the WordPress site I had been notified of which carried the allegations in respect of Lavender J skewing judgments in favour of state organisations and striking out such claims. These three applications did not take six months to action: they took three days. And the Orders issued in relation to them contained language which verged on the intemperate. It is clear from the wording that Lavender J was rattled and angry by the mention of the sites discussed and that this contributed to the wording of the Orders and the dismissal of the claims. The style of the wording used in the Orders issued in GXXXXX8, GXXXXXX7 & EXXXXX5 has formed the template for any Orders issued since which I discussed a moment ago. This consists of allegations regarding my conduct and character which are not supported by reference to the facts or to the manner in which I conduct myself in proceedings: they are comments designed to upset and distress me as a claimant and to create prejudice and bad feeling in any other party who reads them. The contents of these Orders show a degree of personal antipathy the existence of which is re-enforced by the other issues I have raised in these submissions. It is undesirable that a person who holds such feelings should be able to make significant decisions on these claims or that the CRO the they have imposed should remain. My opinion in relation to these matters is this behaviour from Lavender J amounts to targeted discrimination.

At this point you may well of course throw your hands in the air and profess that these are ludicrous accusations

[Following section redacted from online publication as concerns ongoing investigation into third parties not concerned with this matter.]

The relevance of this in relation to these matters are that judgeโ€™s can engage in actions which are ethically questionable and sometimes for personal reasons.

Despite what is written scurrilously in various Orders from Lavender J I neither relish nor enjoy the process of bringing civil claims. There are many other more worthwhile things to do with my time and in every instance I give the other party sufficient chances to avoid any form of proceedings before they begin. However the existence of such as a CRO, if the other party is aware of it as several I have cited in this statement are, means that they are less likely to settle an issue pre-action as there is no incentive for them to do so if they can cite the existence of a CRO as part of grounds for striking out a claim at an early stage. While I do not enjoy the process of civil claims if this is the only means by which I can obtain redress then I will not allow an injustice to sit. This is rather the purpose of the civil system, is it not? To allow a person to obtain satisfaction for torts committed against them. In judicial review CO/XXXX/2017 – another successful claim properly particularised and with merit – the purpose was to obtain a copy of the court file in relation to my wrongful conviction. The court initially and wrongfully denied access to this. The judicial review proceedings once issued obtained it. Another instance of my bringing a case which has merit and is successful. Had such an application for the Court file been made today it would have been denied by Lavender J on some obscure basis and the data of value to appeal would have not been available to me.

I will give one more example of the extent to which the existing CRO makes me an aunt sally for all and sundry. On 18.5.20 MoJ mistakenly sent me materials intended for The Metropolitan Police in respect of a POCA application regarding a man in the Kent area. The data sent to me in error contained every significant personal detail of this man and his bank accounts etc. the data would have proved gold for anyone of criminal intent. I informed ICO of this on the grounds that it formed a significant data breach. MoJ took exception to this and so sought to have me arrested. Subsequent data obtained from subject access requests shows that the Data Security Manager at MoJ suggested the need to โ€œgive him a shockโ€ rather than because of any wrongdoing on my part. Indeed I was arrested in relation to this matter and โ€“ youโ€™ve guessed correctly โ€“ any devices containing LP / LPP materials were again taken breaching common law. This is standard West Yorkshire Police practice to ignore such common law rights.
Much in the way of proceedings could stem from this: the malignancy of MoJ for wanting me arrested due to the embarrassment caused to them (and of course this is another glimpse into a malfunctioning justice system), the predictable removal of LP / LPP without triage and of course wrongful arrest and detention and the loss of liberty.
However is there any point in bringing any form of proceedings in a situation in which all and any grounds for a claim will be struck out by Lavender J at the first opportunity? Well yes as the same rights in relation to protection from such as wrongful arrest and loss of liberty apply to me as everyone else but the process for pushing the claim forward becomes considerably more complex and costly financially and in terms of time.
There is no incentive for either MoJ or WYP to settle this matter amicably or at all since both are well aware that the ultimate sanction in the event that pre-legal negotiations were to fail is not open to me. Thus they can and have compounded their initial torts by failure to respond in any meaningful way to complaints made. Both can do this โ€“ and indeed they are not the only bodies to fail to engage with issues raised โ€“ as they are aware that my ability to cause them discomfort and inconvenience via legal action is severely limited by a CRO. This is the reason for Percival wishing the CRO to continue: they wish to evade civil proceedings for wrongful arrest.
Thus if you are considering extension of any CRO you need to consider if the Order is likely to extend a period in which I am prejudiced against and mistreated by such as MoJ because of such as the proceeding appeal or โ€“ as I have stated โ€“ due to their own malice. I would say that there are sufficient examples I have given you here of injustice caused by the CRO that it cannot reasonably continue. The aim of the CRO in the first instance was to prevent Humberside Police and CPS producing material which would show they obtained a wrongful conviction by abuse of process so the very basis of the initial CRO and the later GCRO was in itself to perpetuate an injustice. Sufficient material for appeal has now been obtained via an independent campaign group.

This hearing was originally set for 17.5.21. I could not make that date as I have to act as advocate in medical matters for a vulnerable family member who had a medical review that day and informed the Court of this. The response came back from Lavender J on 12.5.21: โ€œThe judge is prepared to adjourn the hearing currently fixed for Monday 17 May 2021, on the basis that general civil restraint order will be extended until the adjourned hearing.

CPR states at PD 3C:

4.9 A general civil restraint order โ€“

(1) will be made for a specified period not exceeding 2 years;   

4.10 The court may extend the duration of a general civil restraint order, if it considers it appropriate to do so, but it must not be extended for a period greater than 2 years on any given occasion.  

 

The judge has in effect attempted to issue an Order (that the CRO is extended beyond two years) without putting such into a formal Order and without formal proceedings. Such an Order made properly could be challenged via appeal. But I cannot challenge formally challenge at Court a decree issued via quotes in emails. This thus represents a further injustice. Issue of an edict by email with no Order has no legal validity and the extension was originally for an unspecified period.   

In an email of 15.5.21 I stated my concerns with Orders issued via emails quotes and not in the normal way.  
  

Since a judge can extend a CRO for up to two years beyond the initial Order and there are no reasonable grounds to do so the opinion of other organisations has been sought in Schedule 2 of the Order of 7.5.21. These are invariably (with one exemption) organisations in the CJS who have misconducted themselves in relation to me and thus have most to loose from the removal of the CRO. It is noted that other bodies subject to proceedings have not been contacted and this re-enforces the idea that the purpose of the CRO is to protect bodies and persons in the CJS from the consequences of their own actions as well as protect the reputation of the CJS.

Little surprise then that two organisations happy to put their opinions into these proceedings are two with the most to lose from the removal of the CRO: CPS and West Yorkshire Police. Let us consider the former to begin with. In relation to the wrongful conviction at Hull Crown Court in November 2016 it is known that some 30 documents were purposefully withheld. These included ANPR evidence showing no travel to the complainant on the date of the supposed offences and two additional statements from the complainant which are referenced in other documents but which were not produced for the Court or the defence. CPS were subject of an application for Judicial Review of their refusal to produce these documents under relevant information right law. They have much to lose from being forced to produce the documents: these will show systemic misconduct on the part of CPS to obtain wrongful conviction.  The assertion that there has been no contact with CPS over the duration of the CRO made in their statement is wrong: I have attempted to obtain a copy of consent to prosecute over supposed indecent images which has been denied. I have also attempted to confirm that an MG6B was supplied to CPS detailing the prior misconduct of an officer in the case who claims to have carried out digital forensics work, a DC Julian McGill, given that we are now aware of prior disciplinary offences for computer misuse. One further thing regarding the CPS statement. It is noted that this is written by the wife of the head of CPS for Yorkshire and Humber and someone together with their husband Gerry will stand considerable reputational damage from the forthcoming appeal proceedings. As with the West Yorkshire Police statement, the accuracy of which I will mention, the material you are being presented with by CPS is not factually accurate or the whole picture. Here at para. 6 I am claimed to have been found guilty of meeting a child following sexual grooming. This is not an offence I have been convicted of but they are happy to put this data before the Court. Thatโ€™s very CPS: incompetent, careless and inaccurate.   



It would appear also that the complainant in the Crown Court case and her mother have been contacted in relation to these proceedings and invited to offer an opinion. That neither is willing to take part is not a surprise. LXXX TXXXXX has since been outed in the national media as a serial sex offence complainant and compensation seeker following her attempt to target BXXr RXXXXn, or Viscount RXXXXn of CXXXXXa as he is known, son of Lord GXXXXe. The press articles on this 2018 incident are still plentiful on the internet. One thing a serial compensation seeker needs to carry out their work is anonymity and it it known she has targeted at least one other male between myself and the Viscount. Little wonder she is not prepared to take part in these proceedings as she’s taken the money and run each time. 


Thus the existence of the CROโ€™s โ€“ publicised online contrary to such as the Right to Privacy โ€“ for all to see enables organisation with whom I come into contact to be able to act with whatever level of misconduct they wish towards me secure in the knowledge that they can cite the CRO in relation to any proceedings which might miraculously get as far an initial hearing as justification for an early strike out. This has taken place in relation to the actions of the First Defendant in EXXXXX4. The CRO creates prejudice in the mind of any district judge that a claim is before.To revert to my earliest comments in relation to the CROโ€™s: the original of these was made to frustrate the goal of obtaining data from Humberside Police pursuant to their failure to provide the same contrary their obligations at law. 

Thereโ€™s an interesting power dynamic going on here. A High Court judge who seems to have a maligant interest in a litigant in person and who seeks to end any application or claim he makes by whatever means possible. The judge at issue will act to end meritorious claims against public authorities, has done so in the week the 7.5.21 Order for these proceedings was made  and would appear to be doing so for reasons incompatible with his judicial oath, duty of care or the interests of justice   


  

If an application has no merit then it can be struck out by the first judge who it comes before, often at the paperwork stage or around the point of issue. The system thus exists already to strike out unmeritorious, vexatious or hopeless claims outside of the existence of CROโ€™s. There is no requirement for a CRO except to limit and restrict me personally. Indeed as stated many of the claims I have issued in the last four years have gone to be successful and I have cited examples of these. No. The purpose of the CRO is to protect the CJS from applications in the civil system to obtain data and information which may be of value to appeal proceedings at CACD. This can be seen in the strike out of claims related to CJS matters by Lavender J which pre-date the CRO and have clear merit, having been before other judges prior. This is the reason all but one of the organisations invited to contribute to todayโ€™s hearing are in the CJS. They have the most to lose by further correct use of the civil system to obtain satisfaction or enforce legal rights. No other organisation outside of the CJS has an opinion on todayโ€™s proceedings: those who routinely practice misconduct and malfeasance within it of course do.

I have raised serious issues regarding the conduct of Lavender J. Full materials in relation to the same have been retained and I would expect any Court before which these issues are raised to consider proper investigation of the matters as appropriate.

End

Top Tips for Aspiring Criminals

Have you ever seen a magician who happens to be very capable at making watches, wallets and suchlike vanish from your pocket or wrist? Itโ€™s quite a sight when someone that capable manages to remove something from your person without you being aware of it.

A friend of mine works for a local police force. Every so often he updates me on all the recent criminal activity theyโ€™ve not been able to stop. Generally itโ€™s quite a lot: theyโ€™re forever behind the curve and not in front of it.

But like with the magician who can remove your watch or wallet in a stage show once you know whatโ€™s happening itโ€™s easier to not let it happen to you. So hereโ€™s a couple of tips which might help you to protect yourself.

There are two big recent growth areas of crime. The first of these is the theft of high powered vehicles. Audiโ€™s seem to be targeted especially at present and are then broken down for parts: Audi spares being especially expensive.

A nice new Audi.
Probably wonโ€™t be there for long!

One village with only about 140 homes was recently targeted. Each night over seven nights two homes were burgled and car keys removed. These days this sometimes comes with an assault on the homeowner if the burglar is disturbed. In the olden days such a thief would make off in fear when an upstairs light came on.

The second growth area is the wedding robbery. This again takes place by stealth. At a busy wedding the criminal (often a young woman between 18-30 years old who no-one would otherwise suspect) invites herself. When everyone is dancing around at the end of the night jewels, gold and expensive watches are removed from wrists, necks etc. and often looked after by elderly relatives who are not dancing themselves. This is when the sneak thief strikes & distraction techniques seem to be used. The gangs concerned in this type of robbery seem especially to be targeting Asian weddings.


ICO Address Police Breaches of the Law on GDPR

Police forces are notoriously bad at responding to subject access requests (those are requests for your own personal data) as well as requests for data overall from the force, especially if the request for access is made by the public.

The Information Commissionerโ€™s Office has recently published a report (link seen below) outlining just what an absolute catastrophe police responses to these requests are.

Click to access timeliness-of-responses-to-information-access-requests.pdf

As ever with such a report the real eye-opener are the recommendations made by ICO. In this instance these are nine points which show how UK police forces are failing to deal with data access requests in anything like an efficient and professional way. Often this is because the purpose of data access legislation clashes with policeโ€™s wish to keep information regarding errors in procedure and process wholly secret.

Title page of ICOโ€™s report.

This report will cause consternation in particular at failing Humberside Police, a force subject to many eye-watering fines from ICO in the past for failures to comply with the law on data access by the public. The recommendations ICO suggest will likely be impossible for the force to implement.

West Yorkshire Police – as expected one of the forces most likely to break the law to try to avoid the production of data – said at a meeting convened by their Police and Crime Commissioner recently that they would be looking at increasing the staffing in the Information Management Department in the next year (budget permitting) to cope with the demands made upon it. โ€œLooking atโ€ and โ€œbudget permittingโ€ is another way of saying that nothing will be done to address the problem.


A Christmas Card from Humberside Police!

Iโ€™ve written on here many times before about how Humberside Police are particularly useless, even in a hotly contested field of local forces.

However even I fell off my chair at the sheer incompetence of the subject access response provided by their Information Compliance department this week.

A subject access request provided by the force amounts to a nonfeasance as the response:

1. Fails to provide the data requested.

2. Is issued outside the legal time limit for a response to be provided.

3. Repeats back the same information put in the original request.

Hereโ€™s the letter in full. I have redacted the header.

The key sentences are in the fourth and fifth paragraphs seen above. These are reproduced from the original request. Data cannot be obtained from the Police National Computer – however data that has been entered into the PNC by a local force can be obtained from the same regional police force. Hence the request to Humberside Police.

The substantive reply is seen below:

Here we focus on the second paragraph. It essentially repeats the data I put to police in the first instance.

Consequently the force has failed to react correctly to the subject access request in every conceivable aspect.

This suggests that the intention is to continue frustrate any further request made for the data using the rights conferred in italics in the letter to do so as the response to any further requests that might be made.

The Information Commissionerโ€™s Office has been informed.


Greater Manchester Police in Special Measures

Flurry of activity at GMP in the last few days starting with this considerable shocker:

Overall GMP has been known to be a failing organisation for some time but no active intervention to stop the fall in service standards has been made by GMP itself, The Home Office or HM Inspectorate of Constabulary.

On Wednesday the Chief Constable, reckoned to be amongst the worst in a very competitive field, resigned citing โ€œlong term health issuesโ€. None of these issues had been apparent or seemed to prevent him discharging his duties prior to Tuesdayโ€™s news regarding non-recording of crimes.

On Thursday the force was placed into special measures following Home Office intervention.

Thatโ€™s a triple whammy of connected events.

Most interesting from my perspective is how GMP denied any failings in regards to service standards until the scandalous failure to record crimes became public. Like every British police force at present the effort made to hide errors and failures is tremendous. The mantra of the modern Chief Constable is that the professional reputation of the force must be maintained at all costs.

How many other forces will end up in special measures by the end of 2021? Iโ€™m willing to take bets on at least two.

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