From: RustyBullethole, [EMAIL PROTECTED] An old tale of an ND from the Sunday Telegraph July 18th 1999 - its new to me and as far as I know unseen on Cybershooters. Rusty Police shooting was covered up, says ex-officer By Geoffrey Seed SCOTLAND YARD'S anti-corruption unit is investigating claims of a cover-up after an alleged shooting incident in which a bullet narrowly missed a Flying Squad driver. The alleged incident happened in south London in January last year as Kevin Sage, now retired from the force, drove one of two teams of armed Flying Squad officers to detain a suspected mercenary. As Mr Sage's unmarked grey Volvo mounted the pavement to intercept the suspect, a police Vauxhall Senator pulled up across the road from the Volvo. Mr Sage, 43, claims that an officer in the Vauxhall then accidentally discharged a 0.38 Smith & Wesson pistol. He says the bullet smashed through a side window of the Vauxhall and lodged in the Volvo's nearside wing mirror which saved him from death or serious injury. According to Mr Sage, a senior officer ordered him to remove the mirror, get the bullet and hand it to him. Mr Sage alleges he and other officers were told the incident "never happened" and would be kept "in house". When he gave the damaged mirror and bullet to the senior officer, Mr Sage said in a statement that he was told "that's it finished - no bullet found, no shot fired". Even accidental shootings must be reported. A retire detective chief superintendent said: "It would have to be investigated as a major complaint under ACPO [Association of Chief Police Officers] guidelines." Mr Sage, a retired constable with 23 years' service, has now forced a new investigation after he claimed that the first inquiry failed to interview all 12 witnesses, prove a gun had been fired, and find bullet damage caused to two police cars. He also said the Yard's Complaints and Investigations Branch (CIB) - whose job it is to uphold standards of police integrity - then leaked details of the original cover-up claim to a senior officer, who then allegedly ordered him to dispose of evidence. Mr Sage said: "It was a whitewash first time round. I couldn't believe it when they only bothered to interview about four of those who were there." The new investigation comes after Mr Sage sent a 22-page statement to Sir Edward Heath, his MP; Jack Straw, the Home Secretary; and the Police Complaints Authority. What he had been ordered to do was unnecessary and wrong, he said, because accidental firearm discharges, although serious, are a risk of armed operations. He maintained that he was ordered to buy a new wing mirror, paint and lacquer from a Volvo dealer, which he did with L250 cash provided by the officer who allegedly fired the gun. He then carried out the repairs himself at his parents' house. According to Mr Sage, a neighbour agreed to have broken glass from the police Vauxhall put in her dustbin after he was allegedly urged to get rid of it. Scotland Yard's anti-corruption unit, CIB, received two anonymous calls from a detective - not Mr Sage - alleging a cover-up was underway. Within days, CIB began an inquiry but apparently found no physical or forensic evidence to back up the allegation and the matter was dropped. Mr Sage claimed that the senior officer involved in the alleged cover-up said he could find out who had informed CIB and later gave him the name of a detective. Mr Sage was not interviewed during the first CIB inquiry and most of those on the operation told him they were not either. Within a week of the alleged incident, he went sick with depression, which he believed was caused by the stress of almost being killed. Last October, faced with medical retirement, Mr Sage wrote his statement detailing his part in the alleged cover-up. However, in November, he was served with discipline papers for not reporting a meeting with two suspended police officers. In December, the new wing mirror on the Volvo was itself replaced after reportedly being hit, while parked at a police station, by a vehicle which did not stop, according to CIB officers running the re-investigation. Mr Sage has now been interviewed by them and produced the remains of the paint and lacquer he allegedly used. CIB investigators told him the Volvo's records confirm that he bought a wing mirror and left his police pager number at the garage. Mr Sage, who retired last March, is fighting to prove that his medical condition was caused by the incident while on duty, which would enhance his pension. However, as the alleged shooting never officially happened, he could lose an estimated L150,000 in the next 20 years unless he proves it did. Scotland Yard said this weekend that the re-investigation is underway and no one has been suspended. -- All the way though this I was wondering why he was making such a fuss, and then when I got to the second to last paragraph I figured out why! Steve. Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
