GMP APOLOGISES TO GUN-DEATH DAD’S FAMILY AS MISCONDUCT CASE DISMISSED
GMP SAY SORRY TO GUN-DEATH DAD’S FAMILY AS MISCONDUCT CASE DROPPED
GREATER Manchester Police has apologised ‘unreservedly’ for errors made during a misconduct investigation into a former senior police officer.
Retired former assistant chief constable Steven Heywood was previously forced to apologise to a public inquiry into the fatal shooting of Anthony Grainger after he added detail into his log he couldn’t have known at the time.
He was alleged to have breached force standards of honesty and integrity when giving evidence at the public inquiry and a misconduct hearing to investigate these alleged breaches began on Monday. But the charges were dismissed yesterday at GMP’s own request on the basis of no evidence offered.
Mr Heywood’s lawyer accused GMP of an ‘omnishambles’ over delays and a last-minute bid to adjourn gross misconduct proceedings.
A panel convened over videolink to hear the misconduct allegations were forced to recommend that the misconduct charges be dismissed.
Chair Nahied Asjad slammed GMP for ‘delays and procedural errors’ and said the handling of the misconduct hearing could undermine public confidence in the force. There has been ‘a fundamental disregard’ for everyone involved in the proceedings including Mr Grainger’s family, Mr Heywood and the public, she said.
Deputy Chief Constable Ian Pilling said the force made the decision not to pursue the proceedings further and invited the panel to dismiss the charges against Mr Heywood following submissions at the hearing.
He said: “This misconduct case involved consideration of some complex issues relating to certain information and intelligence which, for legal reasons, could not be provided to Mr Heywood and could not be made public or indeed even shared with the panel dealing with the misconduct hearing. Evidence relating to those
We absolutely accept that mistakes have been made and this matter should have been handled much more effectively
Deputy Chief Constable Ian Pilling
things was heard in private at the Anthony Grainger Public Inquiry and as such was redacted from the public records of that inquiry. The law concerning what can be disclosed in a public inquiry is different from that in misconduct proceedings.”
Mr Pilling said the force has accepted that some of these matters ‘could not be overcome’ and it would be ‘unfair to pursue the case against the retired officer.’
Responding to the comments made by Mrs Asjad, he said: “Whilst we need to examine the comments more fully, we absolutely accept that mistakes have been made and this matter should have been handled much more effectively. We apologise unreservedly for the errors which were made, in particular to the family and partner of Anthony Grainger and to all other involved parties.”
A police marksman – known as Q9 shot dead Mr Grainger by firing a single bullet from his Heckler and Koch MP5 sub-machine gun during an armed swoop in the village of Culcheth, near Warrington, in March 2012, where GMP suspected he and two others were about to rob a supermarket.
Mr Grainger, 36, a convicted criminal who had served time in prison, died at the scene. No gun was found. Mr Heywood, then an assistant chief constable, had authorised an armed swoop. The shooting did not occur while under the direct command of Mr Heywood, who was referred to the Crown Prosecution Service after the Independent Office for Police Conduct reviewed his evidence and found he may have committed a criminal offence. But, in November 2018 the CPS decided not to charge him.
The misconduct hearing was due to look at whether or not Mr Heywood had breached force standards of honesty and integrity when giving evidence at the public inquiry.
Mrs Asjad said: “The integrity of the police service can only be upheld if officers who are alleged to have committed misconduct proceedings are dealt with appropriately.”