Below are a set of (redacted) e-mails between Team Voice and the Wiltshire Constabulary. We have excluded a couple of the e-mails as we believe they add nothing to the debate.
Regular readers will be aware that Chief Constable Moore of the Wiltshire Constabulary was charged with investigating former Jersey Chief Police Officer Graham Power QPM and his handling of the Haute de la Garenne Child Abuse Investigation (Operation Rectangle).
Chief Constable Moore’s investigation, into the investigation, took longer than the investigation. It missed just about every deadline set and went way over budget, indeed Chief Constable Moore’s investigation costs will be the subject of an upcoming Blog!
As is so often the case the Wiltshire Report (Operation Haven) raises more questions than answers. And as is so often the case, the answers are not forthcoming. In these cash strapped times Did the Wiltshire Constabulary seize the opportunity to make themselves a nice little earner with a report they knew was never going to be used as part of a disciplinary process? Has our Home Affairs Minister, Senator Ian Le Marquand “prejudiced relations between the United Kingdom and Jersey” by duping Wiltshire into believing their Report was going to be used as part of a disciplinary hearing, only to go on and release parts of it to the “accredited” media in an attempt to discredit former CPO Graham Power QPM? Why won't Cheif Constable Moore either condem or condone the actions of our Home Affairs Minister?
Readers will have to make up their own minds to these questions and the many more that arise from the communications below, the motives of the Wiltshire Constabulary, and those of our Home Affairs Minister.
From: voiceforchildren voiceforchildren
Sent: 04 August 2010 21:13
To: Coppen, Lucy
Subject: Operation Haven.
Dear Chief Constable Moore.
(paragraph redacted)
We are contacting you in the hope that you will help us decifer some of the confusion that surrounds your Report ("Operation Haven.") We are in possession of the "redacted" Operation Haven that was released to our media some weeks ago.
We have a number of questions we hope you will be able to help us with in order that we can publish factual material to our readers, these are.
1). What date was Wiltshire Constabulary (yourself) made aware that all disciplinary proceedings against Graham Power QPM were dropped?
2). How were you made aware the proceedings had been dropped and who made you aware?
3.) What is the stance of Wiltshire (yourself) on knowing all disciplinary proceedings were dropped and your Report (Operation Haven) was subsequently released to all Jersey "accredited" media?
The reason (or part of) we are asking these questions is because on the top of page 2 of 383 of the "redacted" version given to the media it states "highly confidential - personal information". Also on the same page it lays out the obligation to confidentiality which reads, to the lay person, that our Home Affairs Minister might actually have breached this confidentiality clause.
Yours sincerely.
(names redacted)
From Hills, Michael
to voiceforchildren@googlemail.com
date Mon, Aug 23, 2010 at 12:59 PM
subject 1761 Operation Haven.
mailed-by wiltshire.pnn.police.uk
Dear (names redacted)
Further to my previous email below, I can now report that Chief Constable Brian Moore has read your email.
The Chief Constable responds to the points raised in your email:
With reference to your questions 1 and 2 - Chief Constable Moore became aware through media reports and had no prior or separate briefing, albeit he was not expecting any such facility.
With reference to question 3 - the outcome of the investigation and the formal release of the material to the media is a matter for the states of Jersey.
Chief Constable Moore has no further comment to add and thanks your for your enquiry.
Yours Sincerely
Michael Hills
Chief Constable's Office
from voiceforchildren voiceforchildren
to "Hills, Michael"
date Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 8:15 PM
subject Re: 1761 Operation Haven.
mailed-by googlemail.com
Dear Mr. Hills.
Thank you for your reply. We are sure you can appreciate the gravity of what has occurred in respect of former CPO Graham Power QPM and our Government's handling of the case. It's repercussions could be far reaching and affects every person in Jersey.
We only seek to find the truth of how a Report, that was meant for disciplinary purposes, was only ever used to give the media the prosecution case against our most Senior Police Officer.
Could you please answer for us a further few questions in order to help us, and our readers/viewers make some sense of all this?
1. If you were aware, that your investigation into Operation Rectangle was never going to be used for disciplinary purposes, would you have started it in the first place?
2. Were you surprised to learn that all disciplinary proceedings against Graham Power QPM had been dropped?
3. By releasing parts of Operation Haven are we correct in believing that Ian Le Marquand has breached its confidentiality clauses as there never was an “outcome” of any disciplinary hearings? as the disciplinary hearings did not exist.
4. When did you realise (the date) that there was not going to be any disciplinary process?
5. Given the highly politicised nature of these issues what steps if any did you take in an attempt to prevent your investigation being used as a political tool?
We would like to point you to our latest Blog posting that explains why we believe our Home Affairs Minister has either breached the confidentiality agreement or mis-applied it. http://voiceforchildren.blogspot.com/2010/08/outcome-precedent-has-been-set.html
We look forward to your reply.
Kind Regards Team Voice.
from Hills, Michael
to voiceforchildren voiceforchildren
date Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 5:29 PM
subject 1761 Operation Haven.
mailed-by wiltshire.pnn.police.uk
Dear Team Voice
Chief Constable Brian Moore has read the email that you sent me.
His response to the email is as follows:
'It is inappropriate for me to comment further and I will not be doing so. I appreciate the frustrations expressed but will not be answering further emails or correspondence on this subject'
Regards
Michael Hills
Chief Constable's Office
from voiceforchildren voiceforchildren
to "Hills, Michael"
date Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 2:11 PM
subject Re: 1761 Operation Haven.
mailed-by googlemail.com
Dear Mr Hills/chief Constable Moore.
We are sorry but we must strongly disagree with Chief Constable Moore's first paragraph (below). We would argue that the Wiltshire Police have spent in excess of £1million of Jersey Tax Payers money and are therefore accountable, in part, to the Jersey Tax Payer.
We believe that the questions we have asked are, not only valid, but they are perfectly reasonable considering the amount of money that was spent on the "Haven" Investigation(s). We would strongly urge you to reconsider your position.
Your silence only creates more questions, such as - why after being given the opportunity do you not support the actions of our Home Affairs Minister, are you trying to distance yourself from them? Chief Constable Moore has repeatedly been given the chance to endorse what has happened and he has repeatedly declined the opportunity.
We humbly ask that Chief Constable Moore re-visits our "reasonable" and "valid" questions set out below and provides us with full and frank answers, or at the very least, a full, frank and legitimate reason why he shouldn't answer them.
Kind Regards.
Team Voice.
from voiceforchildren voiceforchildren
to "Hills, Michael"
date Tue, Sep 7, 2010 at 2:22 PM
subject Re: 1761 Operation Haven.
mailed-by googlemail.com
Dear Mr Hills/Chief Constable Moore.
We understand you might be busy but thought we would just send you a gentle reminder that we, and the Jersey Tax Payer, are still waiting for the answers to our questions.
Hope you are able to get back to us soon.
Kind Regards.
Team Voice.
We have had no further reply and quite honestly don't expect one. Although it is interseting to learn from Chief Constable Moore "I appreciate the frustrations expressed"
Submitted by Team Voice.
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That is a shocking and rude way to respond to Team Voice's valid questions, it is as if the door has been slammed shut with a great big SLAM! Thanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteTeam Voice/ Rico Sorda Blog
ReplyDeleteThis is what sets you apart from the other rubbish floating about. You Guys never give up and are always asking the questions the real questions.
Wiltshire is a Joke and will remain a Joke for many reasons. One million pounds for what?. No matter what you guys get thrown at you just keep carrying on.
The Dam will burst
"With reference to your questions 1 and 2 - Chief Constable Moore became aware through media reports and had no prior or separate briefing, albeit he was not expecting any such facility"
ReplyDeleteI find that strange,he produces a disciplinary report on the Suspended Chief of Police and has no idea what is going on with it.
The Minister then drops all Disciplinary Chargers, uses a heavily redacted version for release,then holds a trial by media, 3/4 of the States of Jersey say " That will do me". Is there no stopping what is going on over here.
Verita
Reg's Skips
Sharp Report
Kathy Bull report
Graham Powers Affidavit
4 ACPO Reports
Howard League for Penal Reform
Jon Day's reputation ruined
Graham Powers reputation ruined
Lenny Harpers reputaion ruined
Stuart Syvret reputation ruined
Simon Bellwood reputation ruined
Deputy Labey saying corruption at the highest level under oath in a court of Law
Stuart Syvret saying there is corruption at the highest level under oath in a court of law.
Are they all wrong? What are the odds on all of the above being wrong?
Make it all up just for a laugh
Corruption at the top levels of our Government would appear to be endemic how sad when our Island is governed by spin and lies
ReplyDeleteOur government are snatching milk from our children because of the economic downturn, yet Senator Ian (P9-26) Le Marquand can spend a million quid on a report that was never going to be used and the majority of our States members are happy about that.
ReplyDeleteAnd Wiltshire Police are laughing all the way to the bank.
P9 26 Le Marquand did not publish a single word of graham power's defence to the wiltshire report. If anybody should be facing disciplinary action it is Le Marquand.
ReplyDeleteVFC - sometimes silence in the form of not responding speaks volumes, and of course leaves people to glean from that silence what they will.
ReplyDeleteIt is somewhat akin to a 'no comment' questioning under police caution - now there's an irony!
Are we supposed to believe that the only people on this planet that never knew the Wiltshire report was never meant for disciplinary purposes was Wiltshire?
ReplyDeleteIn the absence of the relevant answers from either Wiltshire or ILM it’s difficult to know what to believe. Although I did predict (at the very start of their Investigation) that the Wiltshire Report was never going to be used in a disciplinary hearing.
ReplyDeleteI am of the strong opinion the Wiltshire Investigation was only put in place to string this all out until Graham Power QPM retired. Whether Wiltshire knew this, or not, is anybody’s guess.
If Chief Constable Moore is a decent human being with a conscience?
ReplyDeleteWho knows how he feels, this moment in time?
Especially with the Napier report looming!?
Yes the Napier Report will make for very interesting reading.
ReplyDeleteSenator Ian (P9-26) Le Marquand has told us that the Wiltshire Report has vinicated David Warcup. If that is the case then David Warcup won't have received a Scott Letter from Napier and the Report won't be critical of Warcup either..................will it?
With all this planning corruption stuff going on it could be a good time to bury bad news as they say. Napier (if it is bad news for the power's that be) could end up being lost in the shadow of the planning stuff.
ReplyDeleteLocally, the Napier Report might well go relatively un-noticed, but i'm not sure if it will be the same nationally!
ReplyDeleteA Nice Little Earner
ReplyDeleteLike a lot of public bodies in the UK Wiltshire Police are strapped for cash...
Minutes Wiltshire Police Authority Resources Committee 24 June 2009
Agenda Item No. 9
It is proposed that the Force finances the £0.417m [deficit] in 2009-10. The first action will be to remove net income from Operation Haven (Jersey) and Operation Dance (The Big Weekend) from Budget Holders. It is expected that this will contribute £0.150m to the gap. The remaining £0.267m will be removed from delegated budget holders on an equal basis. This will equate to each Budget Holder having to find efficiencies of approximately 0.5% of there [sic] budget (excluding Police Officer Pay). This proposal will ensure that those responsible for the overspend will have to limit there [sic] plans to pay for the overspend. This will pave the way for future years when it is likely that budget holders will be expected to identify efficiency savings to balance the budget.
In other words the Operation Haven investigation is a money earner, like being asked to police a festival.
Elsewhere in an Internal Audit Report we read that claims for travel to and from Jersey did not meet the normal standards for ensuring value for money. The response was that all expense claims were met in full by the States of Jersey Police. Ah well, that's OK, then.
So, maybe a good question to ask would be: "Were the same operational criteria and safeguards applied to the enquiry into Operation Haven, as would have been the case if this had been an enquiry into another police force in England and Wales? Were the same or similar financial safeguards observed? Were the conclusions drawn up in the same way?
Try the Police Authority - they might be a bit more concerned about 'freelancing' than Brian Moore
Wiltshire Police Authority Summary Internal Audit Controls Assurance Report – June 2010
ReplyDeleteIn the previous contribution I did not quote the source document. Bear in mind that one of the major complaints against Power was his supposed lax control over expenses...
Finding
Four employees submitted claims
at Casual User rates for regular
journeys, incurring high mileage.
Recommendation
Employees anticipating high
volume of travel at casual user
rates be reminded to contact
Finance to ensure the most
economic means of travel and
mileage rates are used.
Force Comments
Travel expenses incurred as part
of Operation Haven are
reimbursed in full under an
agreement with States of Jersey
Police.
So, a nice little bonus on the side for the officers involved.
Contact details for Members of Wiltshire Police Authority can be found at the authority's website.
http://www.wiltshire-pa.gov.uk/index.php?option=com_contact&view=category&catid=12&Itemid=59
channel TV didnt cover The Doctor that has been proven to be incompetent by the GMC
ReplyDeleteSays it all really