Cleveland Police-It gets worse!

[mk1]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22452157


Cleveland Police in huge damages payout to lawyer


Cleveland Police has agreed to pay £550,000 in damages after prominent defence lawyer James Watson was falsely imprisoned,


In the wake of their inquiry the IPCC recommended that Cleveland Police consider suspending Ch Insp Riordan.Instead, he was retired on a full pension following a decision by Cleveland Police's Assistant Chief Constable Sean White, a man who knows Ch Insp Riordan personally as they were both on the police sailing team.


Its on Newsnight tonight (Friday)

[steveL]

for those who missed it

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01sd1q7/Newsnight_10_05_2013/

[fred c]

I wonder what the running total of the Sacristy Inquiry & the various payoffs have cost the ratepayers of Cleveland so far

[for fawkes sake]

This is absolutley shocking.

After a Chief Inspector lost a high profile case, he persued the defending Solicitor for 4 years even though they now admit that they had' absolutely no grounds to suspect him of anything.'

It cost millions and will now cost a further £550,000 in compensation. The Chief Inspector concerned has now been 'retired' on full pension after his yachting team pal refused to suspend him.

If you haven't watched the Newsnight report then I strongly urge you to do so because there is something very seriously wrong with Cleveland Police.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01sd1q7/Newsnight_10_05_2013/

[fred c]

Just watched the program.......... It`s about time This force was declared Not Fit For Purpose, & intergrated into a wider Durham / North Yorksire Constabulary.

[Lucy Lass-Tick]

Appalling ... if that's before the politicisation of the police force then God help us now.

[not4me]

Just what we need. On top of the £550,000 compensation payable it's now been announced that the legal costs involved in this case already top £1m. That's £1.55m of taxpayer's money to pay for yet another c**k-up by Cleveland Police and the guy who caused it all doesn't even get suspended but gets to retire early on full pension.   

http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2013/05/14/barry-coppinger-cleveland-police-should-not-be-merged-into-another-force-84229-33327869/

[for fawkes sake]

Some clever person with the right information might be able to tot up the cost of these diversions going back to Operation Lancet to Sacristy and now this. We must be talking of quite a few millions; all taxpayer's money and all spent on something other than fighting crime (although that last point is debatable).

When your own police force starts to make up a significant portion of the area's crime figures then we are well and truly in the mire and the cosy deals done to off-load internal transgressors seems to be an established trait of Cleveland Police.

I notice from that link that Commissioner Barry Coppinger is resisting calls for the force to be wound up and merged with another - not sure who is calling for the move, but I imagine it will be a growing number.

[grim reaper]

The comment from another Labour idiot..cop out Coppinger....

"Don't worry, the insurance company cover eventualities like this situation."   

So that makes it all right then? What a doyle.
I wonder how much Cleveland Police insurance premium will go up by next year, after these fantastic hits on the insurance cover? 

Really, where do we get these idiots from?
More to the point, WHY DO WE NEED THEM? 

[for fawkes sake]

Bang goes the 'no claims' bonus.

[Lucy Lass-Tick]

Bang goes the 'no claims' bonus.

Could it even get to the point where the organisation is viewed as uninsurable?

[fred c]

Not surprising Coppinger doesn`t want the force to merge with another one............

He would be out on his Ar*e looking for another £100,000 grand a year slot.

[marky]

"Mr Watson's £550,000 payout includes £80,000 in exemplary damages - the maximum possible amount - and is likely to be added to by a £1m legal bill.   On top of that, if the other claims are successful, it is thought the total cost to the taxpayer for the four-year wrangle could easily surpass £2m.
A source close to the investigation described the unpublished report as "dynamite" and said: "It is the most damning document I have ever seen."
The embattled force was already facing a huge rise in settlements this year after ex-officer Sultan Alam was awarded £800,000 in damages for malicious prosecution.
The former traffic cop successfully sued the force following a 17-year fight for justice after being wrongly sacked and jailed for a crime he did not commit.
Figures from last year showed the force paid out more than £470,000 after legal action was taken by crime suspects, members of the public and its own officers.
The statistics revealed 136 allegations of false imprisonment, assault and motor liability claims following crashes involving police cars were lodged between April 2011 and March 2012.
Legal action taken by employees who were injured at work included incidents of "exposure to excessive noise", failure of equipment and a tripping accident.
One claimant won their court case while another 65 settled out of court. The force successfully defended two actions and 66 claims were withdrawn."

I wish we had a local paper like the Northern Echo


http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/10419148.Force_faces_further_damages_claims/?ref=rss