Thread by @MetFedRep

It’s utterly shameful what the IOPC done to the five officers in this shambolic investigation. The IOPC stepped over the incompetent threshold and straight into the damnright dishonest territory. Absolutely offensive organisation

mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/b…

Nobody benefited from the 11 year investigation.
The family were given false hope and expectations.
The officers suffered (and suffer) immensely from years of unfair pressure.
The public had their taxpayers money thrown down the drain.

After 11 years, there were no winners

All of this with the backdrop of a man that was unwell and tragically died when he was much younger that most of us would like to make it to. To some degree, his name will forever be associated with an incompetent and dishonest investigation. He doesn’t deserve that legacy

The fact that the IOPC (for it was the IOPC that retained the case and was dishonest in the hearing, so they cannot hide behind the “legacy IPCC case” excuse), continue to call themselves “independent” is frankly laughable

I think 99% of officers accept and understand that it is absolutely correct that their actions will be held to account. Article 2 of the Human Rights Act was, quite correctly, engaged after the death of Mr Rigg.

What the family deserved was a thorough and independent competent investigation. One that would examine all evidence in the strongest way possible and deliver the findings from their Article 2 investigation.

The officers involved also deserved that thorough investigation. They were not afraid of it, and in fact welcomed it. Widening the scope, all officers would want a thorough investigation. As would the public.

But the IOPC did not investigate fairly

During the course of the investigation, IOPC officers falsified their workbooks. And when being cross examined they admitted to doing so during the IOPC directed Gross Misconduct Hearing. They covered things up, lying about when things had happened.

During the course of the investigation, they deliberately withheld evidence. Evidence, which if it had been used as the IOPC investigators had been told how to use it, would have meant that one of the officers didn’t end up on a perjury trial, for which he was acquitted.

The officers were not given the protection of the Regulation notices for a ridiculous amount of time. The IOPC were actively investigating them as criminal and misconduct suspects but didn’t think it was worth complying with the law and serving them notices.

The original IOPC investigation was so substandard and incompetent, that the IOPC used taxpayers money to go to the High Court and have a High Court Judge overturn their own investigation in a Judicial Review! Seriously.

In a subsequent Judicial Review, a High Court Judge found that the “second investigation” lead investigator Steve Noonan was disingenuous. That Noonan had mislead the High Court with an untruthful account.

You would have assumed that Noonan had learned from his errors. Of course, after being found to be disingenuous by a High Court Judge, the IOPC sought not to investigate him and he continued working for them. On some very high profile cases.

Fast forward to the IOPC Directed Gross Misconduct Hearing in January 2019 and Steve Noonan gives evidence. And has he learned his lessons from being found to be disingenuous by the High Court Judge?

Of course not. He is found to be disingenuous AGAIN at the hearing.

Don’t worry folks, you can sleep well at night knowing that as a result of being found to be disingenuous by a High Court Judge and then by a Misconduct Panel, the IOPC have now promoted him.

One of our barristers was told to rephrase a question that was asked if Noonan at the Hearing. He asked, “What do you think the IOPC would do to a police officer if they had done what you have done?”

The question was withdrawn, but I suspect my colleagues know the answer

There is more to this. A hell of a lot more. And that’s understandable after two investigations and getting on for 11 years of investigations

The officers continue to be affected by what they have been subjected to

This can never be allowed to happen again.

Shame on the IOPC