May vows to ‘purge’ Met amid calls for judge-led inquiry
As Theresa May announces two inquiries into claims that the Met tried to smear murdered schoolboy Stephen Lawrence’s family, his father calls for an investigation where people must answer under oath.
Speaking on Channel 4 News from his home in Jamaica (see video below), Neville Lawrence, the father of the murdered schoolboy, said he was “surprised and also shocked” at the claims. He said he also felt angry because his family had received an apology from the police – “and still they were hiding things from us”.
Mr Lawrence said his family had “never done anything against the law”. He continued: “Over the years we’ve had all kinds of people doing inquiries into the situation.
I want a public inquiry led by a judge, where people have to come and answer questions under oath. Neville Lawrence
“I want a public inquiry led by a judge, where people have to come and answer questions under oath, to try and get to the bottom of all the things that went wrong in the early days.”
Responding to former Met chief Sir Paul Condon’s claim that he had not known the alleged smear efforts were taking place, Mr Lawrence asked: “So who gave them authority to carry out this covert operation? Who was in charge of the group of people who were supposed to be investigating my son’s murder?”
He concluded: “I’m four and a half thousand miles away in Jamaica… I have to deal with the situation by myself – and it’s not a good place to be in at all.”
For a YouTube version the Neville Lawrence interview, click here (poor sound)
Widened inquiry
Earlier in the day, Home Secretary Theresa May said the remit of the existing inquiry into the actions of the Met’s Special Demonstration Squad would be widened to include the latest allegations.
Derbyshire Chief Constable Mick Creedon is already leading a team of 23 police officers examining thousands of documents after a string of accusations of wrongdoing against the unit.
The home secretary made an urgent statement to the House of Commons after former undercover officer Peter Francis told the Guardian and Channel 4’s Dispatches that he had been told to “hunt for disinformation” to undermine the credibility of Stephen Lawrence‘s family and friends.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission will oversee the part of the investigation that deals with Mr Francis’s allegations, she told MPs.
New allegations
Ms May said Mark Ellison QC, the barrister who successfully prosecuted Gary Dobson and David Norris for Mr Lawrence’s murder last year, will also consider the new allegations as part of an inquiry into into allegations of police corruption in the initial investigation of the murder.
The new Chief Inspector of Constabulary Tom Winsor will also undertake a review of undercover police work in the light of the scandal.
We must be ruthless about purging such behaviour from its ranks. Theresa May
Ms May said: “I know the whole house will want to convey their support for the Lawrence family. They experienced an unspeakable tragedy. Their pain was compounded by the many years in which justice was not done.
“These latest allegations, still coming 20 years after Stephen’s murder, only add to their suffering.”
She added: “I know too that the house will agree with me about the seriousness of allegations concerning police corruption and wrongdoing. We must be ruthless about purging such behaviour from its ranks.
“Undercover operations are a vital part of protecting the public, but it needs very detailed supervision, and undercover operations need constant reassessment to ensure that what is being done is justified.”
Dispatches report
Scotland Yard has said it is “not prepared to confirm or deny” the truth of Mr Francis’s claims, which surfaced as a result of a joint investigation into undercover policing by the Guardian and Dispatches, to be broadcast on Monday night.
We must make sure those investigations get rapidly to the bottom of what’s happened and we get the full truth out. David Cameron
Speaking in 10 Downing Street shortly before Ms May’s statement to the House of Commons, the prime minister said: “Let’s be clear, these are absolutely dreadful allegations and we can only think of the Lawrence family, who have suffered so much already from the loss of their son.
“To hear that, potentially, the police that were meant to be helping them were actually undermining them – that’s horrific.
“We have investigations underway. We must make sure those investigations get rapidly to the bottom of what’s happened and we get the full truth out.”
