The Grenfell inquiry is not the first inquiry into state wrongdoing that has had vital evidence inexplicably destroyed. It's so common that you could see it as something akin to standard practice.
Earlier this year an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct found #SpyCops had destroyed files despite explicit orders to preserve all documents for the forthcoming @ucpinquiry public inquiry.
independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/…
Sarah Green, IOPC regional director, said “it is extremely unfortunate that a number of former police managers have refused to engage with this investigation”. The Met continue to be custodians of evidence that incriminates their own #SpyCops.
httpscontinuesmetro.co.uk/2020/03/18/met…
.@GreenJennyJones was spied on when she was a member of the Greater London Authority & the Met's scrutiny body the Metropolitan Police Authority. When she asked for answers in 2014, #SpyCops destroyed her files without keeping copies.
theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/j…
The Stephen Lawrence Review found evidence of police corruption, including one of the investigating officers being on the payroll of the father of one of the killers. Full details were unavailable due to unexplained destruction of 'a lorry-load' of files
bbc.com/news/uk-266213…
At Hillsborough, CCTV tapes were stolen from a locked cupboard inside a locked, alarmed room. No sign of entry & the alarm didn't go off. When the theft was reported, police wrote at the bottom of the sheet 'NO PUBLICITY RE THIS OFFENCE', with 'NO PUBLICITY' underlined twice
When PC Ian Harwood killed Ian Tomlinson in 2009, police & the Independent Police Complaints Commission tried to prevent footage being seen. They said there were no CCTV cameras. After photos of 6 were posted on social media, they had to admit they existed
theguardian.com/uk/2009/apr/14…
When footage of the fatal attack on Ian Tomlinson was published by the Guardian, police & IPCC went to their offices to insist it be taken down lest it upset Tomlinson's family. They told the family the assailant might be a protester in a stolen uniform
theguardian.com/uk/2009/jun/30…
The inquest into the police killing Jean Charles de Menezes didn't see any CCTV footage of the platform. Police said there'd been 'a technical problem' with it system, but the Tube Lines consortium who maintain the system said it was in full working order
independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/…
The family of Jean Charles de Menezes, like the family of Stephen Lawrence & many others simply seeking the truth of what happened to their late loved one, were targeted by #SpyCops. Resources that should have been spent holding the guilty to account were used to obstruct justice
Victims of state wrongdoing face a double injustice. First, there is what is done to them. Second, there are the obstacles, delays, smears, & chicanery that the state uses to create a protracted & gruelling path towards any measure of truth & justice.
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