By Satish Sekar © Satish Sekar (July 16th 2013)
Inadequate
I am disappointed, but not surprised in the least by the latest failure of the processes imposed on the public by public authorities that have failed those they promised to serve. South Wales Police’s Professional Standards Department unlawfully seized control of my work and property for their own purposes after the collapse of the Lynette White Police Corruption Trial in December 2011.
That included servicing the deeply flawed processes that ended in abject failure today (July 16th 2013). The terms of reference of both the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) were clearly insufficient. Both The Fitted-In Project and I had made our concerns clear from the start. Not only were they ignored, but our co-operation was then stolen to support processes that we had taken a principled decision to oppose.
Both reports have failed to explain how and why one of Britain’s most notorious miscarriages of justice was allowed to occur. These reports address few if any of the major causes for concern. There are so many flaws that even a swift perusal vindicates my position – this was a process that would take this case off the agenda yet again and then it could be swept under the carpet once and for all. It remains to be seen if the public will tolerate it.
Conspiracy to Silence
The Home Secretary was aided and abetted in a long-standing policy to prevent this case from achieving its potential to benefit the public. As long ago as 1995 I called on the then Home Secretary Michael Howard to secure evidence and order a public inquiry into South Wales Police. At that time I highlighted a serious institutional problem in that force. This case was a large part of that.
I was supported at the time and since by the then Shadow Minister for Home Affairs, Alun Michael.1 However, Sir David MacLean and Ann Widdecombe insisted that the correct course of action was for me to bring my concerns to the head of the organisation that I was complaining about. This course of action was rejected. The conduct of those Ministers had dire consequences. Evidence subsequently went missing.
Inappropriate
They re-opened the Lynette White Inquiry and claimed it was their decision on whether to use up all the DNA, after having wasted months, resources and precious DNA on tests that proved as futile as we had predicted they would. They were forced to abandon these plans by the withdrawal of co-operation of Lynette’s natural mother Peggy Pesticcio.
The inquiry was headed by the then head of South Wales Police’s CID, Phil Jones. After his retirement Jones was jailed for corruption. Readers can judge for themselves whether the credibility of the path suggested by Widdecombe and MacLean was anything other than grossly inadequate.
Putting Wrong What they Got Right
South Wales Police made history in 2003 by resolving a miscarriage of justice with the conviction of the real killer. This was the first time that this happened in Britain in the DNA age. Howard, Widdecombe and MacLean were no longer in government. Alun Michael was, but South Wales Police reacted swiftly. They insisted that they would put right what they got wrong.
Eight and half years and at least £30m later, the Phase III of the Lynette White Inquiry ended abruptly when the CPS threw in the towel – the latest of several failures of that organisation in this case. The terms of reference of both investigations ignored the root cause of the problem – the original miscarriage of justice. As such I chose not to co-operate, but my rights were trampled underfoot.
I called for a public inquiry into the whole case, but representatives of the surviving Cardiff Five were determined to exclude me in favour of a limited and ultimately worthless process that coincided with gazing at the entrails of the one part they had not been compensated over – the collapsed trial, which just happened to be the thing that both the IPCC and HMCPSI had just spent months looking into.
While both The Fitted-In Project and I maintain that any investigation must look at the whole case from start onwards, they have given Theresa May what she wants – a chance to sweep an egregious miscarriage of justice under the carpet. So much has already been swept under this particular carpet, there’s no more space under it.
1 Mr Michael is now the Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales. The position replaced Police Authorities with the exception of London, which transferred Police Authority powers to the Mayor of London.