Port of Tilbury-Police Constable

[Fedster + 1,307]

But one former officer may have committed gross misconduct, it says.

Dorothy Begley says the death of her son has 'destroyed' her family

Date - 15th June 2018
By - JJ Hutber- Police Oracle

 

The police watchdog’s re-investigation into the death of a man after he was Tasered by officers has concluded five of the officers involved did not breach professional standards of behaviour.

Factory worker Jordon Begley, 23, from Gorton, Manchester, died in July 2013 two hours after being shot by the less lethal weapon. He was also punched and restrained by armed officers, who believed he had a knife.

The Independent Police Complaints’ Commission (now the Independent Office for Police Conduct) 2014 investigation cleared all officers involved of wrongdoing but in 2016 the body  persuaded two High Court judges to quash the original report on Mr Begley's death, arguing it was legally flawed and there should be "a new and lawful" investigation.

Mr Begley’s family spoke out to ITV’s Granada Reports today in anger after learning IOPC has advised Greater Manchester Police not to take misconduct proceedings against five of the officers and a sixth officer has resigned.

IOPC Deputy Director General Ian Todd said: “Today I met with Jordon’s mother Dorothy to provide her with an update on our reinvestigation which we recently completed.

“We have reviewed all of the evidence from the original case and assessed this evidence against that given during the inquest. The reinvestigation was completed by a team with no previous involvement in the original investigation.

“We examined the actions of six Greater Manchester Police officers and my view is that one former officer may have breached the professional standards of behaviour in relation to their use of force.

“We have shared our provisional findings with the force and will wait for their response and any other outstanding matters, before we publish our report.

“Our thoughts remain with Dorothy and her family.”

GMP Federation chairman Stu Berry said the time and money spent on the process is “ridiculous”.  

He said: “This outcome is welcomed by both the officers and the Police Federation, but the timescale is indicative of how the IOPC clearly needs more than just a name change.

“The 2018 World Cup is upon us. To put this investigation into some perspective, it began well before the previous tournament.

“Disappointingly there are many more similar cases around the country.

“The IOPC has to appreciate the impact these ridiculously long investigations have on police officers, their families and the communities we serve.”

Mr Berry added: “The restrictions placed on five of these officers during the majority of the previous five years have prevented them from engaging in front line policing and armed policing throughout.

“That is more than £1 million of public money spent on salaries for these officers to essentially sit behind desks in times of austerity and when the threat level to the country has been severe.

“That’s not even factoring in the cost of the two lengthy investigations and the Judicial Review. 

“I am hopeful that the new Director General of the IOPC, Michael Lockwood, is listening to these concerns.

“There is nothing more destructive than pressure and time. The stress, anguish and worry cannot be overstated. I wish the very best to officers involved and hope they can start to rebuild their careers in the future.”

A spokeswoman for GMP said of the six officer involved, five are no longer under restricted duties and another has since resigned.

The IOPC has not yet officially released the results of the investigation as it is waiting for the force to feedback on the report and draw its own conclusions as to whether any officer should face gross misconduct proceedings.

An IOPC spokesman said: “The reinvestigation did take a little longer to complete than we would have liked due to unforeseen circumstances. However, this was a thorough reinvestigation using a substantial amount of evidence to reach our findings.”

View On Police Oracle