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WSWS : News & Analysis : Europe : Britain
The Stephen Lawrence case: police credibility slides further into disrepute
By Tony Hyland
2 February 1999
Scotland Yard announced on Friday, January 29 that Detective Superintendent
Albert Patrick is to be removed as head of the re-investigation into the
racist killing of black teenager Stephen Lawrence. He is currently under
scrutiny by officers looking into alleged corruption within the Flying
Squad.
Patrick's first disciplinary notice relates to his alleged "lack of
supervision" of officers who are now facing investigation for corruption
while he was head of the Flying Squad. Two detectives have already
confessed to stealing and perverting the course of justice. The second is
regarding allegations that �4,000 worth of proceeds from a Post Office
robbery were used to fund the 1997 Flying Squad Christmas party. A
spokesman for Scotland Yard refused to say whether Patrick had been
suspended from duty.
Earlier last year, the public inquiry into the police handling of the
Lawrence murder investigation brought to light evidence which compromised
the police and judicial system. The official line of a "lack of evidence
and witnesses" needed to convict the five major suspects crumbled under
serious scrutiny. In addition to the well-grounded charge of police racism,
the issue of police corruption has hovered in the background. That neither
issue was explored in any depth was due to the narrow parameters of the
inquiry and the tight grip on the proceedings exercised by the chairman,
William Macpherson.
At one point evidence surfaced of an earlier relationship between one
police officer involved in the case and Clifford Norris, a convicted armed
robber and drug dealer and the father of one of the five originally
charged, David Norris. The officer, David Coles, was demoted after
clandestine meetings between the two, where packages were exchanged, were
uncovered. Coles claimed that he was procuring an informant, but this had
not be given official clearance. This did not prevent him from being placed
in charge of "protecting" a key witness to the murder. At the public
inquiry Duwayne Brooks, Stephen's friend, spoke of the intimidating effect
this had.
The removal of Patrick has all the hallmarks of a damage limitation
exercise. It came only a week after the Lawrence family solicitor had
written a letter to the Metropolitan Police demanding his sacking.
Stephen's father, Neville Lawrence, stated: "The police knew about the
allegations against the Flying Squad officers for over a year, but said
nothing to us. It is further proof that they do not and have not taken
Stephen's murder seriously."
It also follows the debacle regarding the one senior officer to face
disciplinary charges over the police handling of the murder investigation.
Just 24 hours after the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) announced that
Detective Inspector Ben Bullock would face an internal tribunal on seven
counts of negligence, the officer announced his early retirement. This
meant he would avoid any disciplinary action.
* * *
Deaths in police custody
The issue of police racism and brutality has again been brought to public
scrutiny by the death Roger Sylvester on January 18. The 30-year-old black
care worker died after being restrained by police officers. Eight police
officers turned up to investigate a disturbance outside a block of flats in
Tottenham. Sylvester was detained under the Mental Health Act on January 11
and died a week later in intensive care. The police claim that they did not
use any force against Sylvester, but his family reported several bruises on
his body when they went to visit him.
The same week that Sylvester died, an inquest found that restraint by
officers had played a part in the death of Nathan Delahunty, a 29-year-old
businessman. Delahunty had called emergency services claiming that an armed
gang were outside his flat. The coroner's report established that police
action had aggravated the delirium and excited state he was in as a result
of cocaine intoxication, contributing to his death.
See Also:
The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry
[WSWS full coverage]
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Copyright 1998-99
World Socialist Web Site
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WSWS : News & Analysis : Europe : Britain
Britain: Local councillors investigated for misappropriating anti-poverty
funds
By Harvey Thompson
2 February 1999
Investigations are under way into alleged corruption by members of a local
Labour council in South Yorkshire. Funds allocated for initiatives against
poverty are said to have been squandered on lavish conferences, expensive
hotels, trips abroad, and the procurement of prostitutes.
In mid-November last year, South Yorkshire Police launched a probe into
misuse of funds, and leading councillors from Rotherham Borough Council
were suspended. The allegations relate to the National Local Government
Forum against Poverty (NLGFP) and the misappropriation of donations from
approximately 200 councils across the country. The donated money ran into
hundreds of thousands of pounds, which was allegedly misused by Labour
councillors and NLGFP officials.
In January 1992 local Rotherham politicians set up an Anti-Poverty
Initiative within the town council. The declared objectives of the unit
were to wipe out poverty, raise incomes, develop communities, improve
council services and be sympathetic to low income families. At the time,
the glaring contradiction of the enormous salaries of the appointed
officials--the equivalent of $100,000--and their supposed aim of tackling
poverty drew much hostile comment.
The project grew dramatically, soon reaching a nation-wide scale. By the
time of the launch of the National Local Government Forum against Poverty
early in 1993, it was described as an "alliance of authorities throughout
England, Scotland and Wales." Councillor Reed, also Rotherham's deputy
council leader, became the convenor of the "independent" NLGFP. At the
beginning of 1996, Rotherham councils' input into the forum was taken over
by the newly created Community Regeneration Department, which was also
chaired by Councillor Reed. Reed has now been suspended and is under
investigation for fraud, as are two other council officers, Bob Bone and
John Cook, and the director of the Community Regeneration board, Peter
Nettleton. All four officials deny any wrongdoing.
The investigation was sparked by a separate inquiry into the murder of a
prostitute, Samantha Class, who was bludgeoned to death in Hull two years
ago. Detectives dealing with the case uncovered information leading to the
offices of the NLGFP. A prostitute questioned by Humberside Police about
Class's death said that a number of prostitutes had taken "conference
organiser" contracts with the NLGFP. She described how women would hand out
badges and escort guests at meetings across the country. The meetings were
followed, she alleges, by offers of sex in hotel rooms paid for by NLGFP.
It is understood that the prostitute has given police details of
conferences at expensive hotels in cities such as Norwich and Southampton
and is said to have records of her employment by the NLGFP.
Other allegations include NLGFP guests claiming exaggerated expenses for
five-star hotels. When the charges were announced, Garvin Reed rebutted the
allegations. He explained, "A number of people would choose to stay in
lesser accommodation like bed and breakfast places and claim the full
amount of expenses. There is nothing illegal in that."
The largest contribution made to the NLGFP, �800,000, was from Rotherham
Council. The recently concluded internal inquiry by the council stated that
it had lost control of the NLGFP. Council leader Billington said,
"Something went very wrong indeed, and I am extremely angry about it.... I
want the council to be squeaky-clean. And I want to make sure our relations
with outside bodies are on a proper and sound basis."
It seems ludicrous to suggest that the council leadership were unaware of
what had been going on. In 1994 the council took the decision to underwrite
the budget of the NLGFP to the tune of �400,000. No reports were ever
published of the forum's operations--a statutory requirement for such
organisations. Moreover, the constitution of the NLGFP prevented it from
being held publicly accountable.
Nor is Rotherham such an aberration when one considers that the
neighbouring Labour Council of Doncaster is also under police investigation
for fraud on an even larger scale, involving councillors taking expenses
for foreign trips and purchasing racehorses. Such is the fallout from the
scandal that none of the town's 21 districts (wards) has been left
unaffected. So far, at least 13 serving or former councillors have been
arrested, including Malcolm Glover, who was appointed as a "clean pair of
hands" after the scandal broke in 1997.
Both Rotherham and Doncaster are located in a former coal field region. The
closure of virtually all the deep-mining pits in the area over the last
decade and a half has had a devastating impact, creating chronic
unemployment, social deprivation and the re-emergence of poverty related
diseases such as tuberculosis.
The other main industry in the area--steel production--has also seen
hundreds of thousands of jobs destroyed in the past two decades. Over a
thousand steelworkers were made redundant in nearby Sheffield at the end of
last year. The setting up of the NLGFP was no doubt partly due to the
general feeling of anger and hostility towards the developing social crisis
in the area.
The NLGFP never drew up any policies to deal with poverty. Although this
expresses the high degree of cynicism on the part of those involved in the
project, the more fundamental reason must be sought in the broader
political developments that shaped the organisation. The Labour Party was
passing through an important transitory period. First under the leadership
of Neil Kinnock and then John Smith, the party made its historic break with
social reformism. Initiatives such as the NLGFP harked back to Labours'
reformist past, when the plight of working people and the poor was a
significant concern. They soon became incompatible with the changed
political landscape. The NLGFP and similar bodies became yet another means
of building closer relations between local government and the business
community.
See Also:
Plans for Greater London Authority ignore growing social inequality
[30 December 1998]
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