Officer’s ‘appeal blocked after wrongful dismissal’
AFORMER police licensing officer who claims he was wrongly dismissed for less serious reasons after a surveillance operation failed to find evidence of corruption against him says a Chief Constable is reportedly blocking him from appealing.
South Wales Police says Tony Roach was dismissed for gross misconduct and his appeal has so far failed.
Mr Roach’s duties involved the licensing and policing of nightclubs, restaurants and pubs throughout Cardiff.
He claims he was the victim of an unfounded allegation made by a police informant that he had been taking bribes from a door security company to recommend its services to licensed premises.
Mr Roach said: “Out of the blue on January 20, 2014, I was arrested by the professional standards department of South Wales Police and my wife was also arrested. My wife had an interest in a small car sales venture and I would support her occasionally. The arrest of my wife was for alleged tax offences. Unknown to me, South Wales Police had received a complaint from an informant that I was taking
‘brown envelopes’ (bribes) from one of the door staff companies in Cardiff and I was alleged to be supporting and recommending their services to licensed premises throughout the city.
“I subsequently discovered that there followed a long and extensive physical surveillance operation on me involving officers from Gwent, Dyfed-Powys and South Wales Police for around 18 months.
“My office in Cardiff Bay police station was fitted with a surveillance camera and the desk phone monitored.
“My mobile phone and house phones were intercepted.
“The 18-month surveillance operation, known as Operation Kansas, must have cost hundreds of thousands of pounds – South Wales Police will not say how much – and at the end of it all, no criminal charges were brought against me.
“More recently I have received disclosure from South Wales Police relative to Operation Kansas.
“Some of the allegations made in order to obtain authorisations from senior officers are to say the least the work of a very fanciful imagination. Fanciful, but totally false, unfounded and dangerously untrue.
“They alleged I was a member of an organised criminal gang, a thief, a corrupt officer taking bribes, a drug dealer and abusing the police computer system. No criminal charges were ever made against me or my wife. HMRC conducted a civil inquiry into our financial probity but found no evidence whatsoever of wrongdoing. I believe that South Wales Police were clutching at straws in their mission to dismiss me from the force.
“When these matters eventually fizzled out, they proceeded against me on discipline charges for allegedly leaving work early – to play football for the South Wales Police team – even though I had started work earlier on that day.
“I couldn’t prove this as South Wales Police said the computer door entry records had been destroyed.
“They also charged me for making a journey to assist my wife to buy a car while on certified sick leave, suffering from work overload and stress.”
Last November he submitted a fresh appeal, claiming he had new evidence that would exonerate him.
Mr Roach said: “The Chief Constable has neither acknowledged receipt of my appeal document, nor instituted a fresh appeal, which under this legislation he is obliged to do by law.
“I have recently made a complaint about the Chief Constable’s inaction to the Police and Crime Commissioner [Alun Michael] and await his reply about the action that he proposes to take.”
A spokesman for South Wales Police said: “The officer was dismissed in 2015 for gross misconduct following an investigation by the South Wales Police professional standards department. The force subsequently received numerous requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act and Data Protection Act and we have released all material which we are legally obliged to disclose. We continue to receive correspondence requesting information.
“Due to the ongoing nature of the civil proceedings it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”