Ex-police tsar must submit to perjury inquiry

Watchdog launches probe into child abuse evidence

A POLICE watchdog is launching an investigation into alleged perjury by former South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Shaun Wright after concluding the allegations merit an inquiry.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has completed an initial assessment into claims Mr Wright committed perjury while giving evidence in Parliament about the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal and has now announced a formal inquiry.

An IPCC spokesperson said: “The IPCC will carry out an independent investigation into whether former South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Shaun Wright may have committed perjury when giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee in 2014.”

The case relates to Mr Wright’s appearance before the committee in September 2014 and allegations he gave misleading evidence on oath.

The IPCC’s inquiry comes after the watchdog acknowledged it initially mistakenly concluded perjury would not be a criminal offence and would instead be contempt of Parliament.

South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel, which holds the local police and crime commissioner (PCC) to account, received complaints against Mr Wright in 2015 and referred them to the IPCC, which is responsible for criminal investigations into PCCs. After receiving the IPCC’s initial response, the panel referred the allegations to Home Affairs Select Committee instead, which deemed they could be considered criminal and forwarded them to the Met Police last November.

The Met subsequently wrote to the IPCC which led to the watchdog reviewing the legal position and stating it would reconsider an investigation once the panel had re-referred the complaints.

The case relates to Mr Wright’s appearance before the Commons committee in September 2014.

The committee said it made the referral to the police because lying under oath would constitute the criminal offence of perjury.

The former PCC was one of a number of key witnesses on the child grooming scandal who were required to give evidence under oath. The chairman at the time, Keith Vaz, took issue with Wright’s claims he was not aware child sexual exploitation was a significant problem while he was responsible for children’s services as a Rotherham Council cabinet member between 2005 and 2010.

Vaz explicitly warned him that meant action could potentially be taken for perjury if he gave false evidence and during the course of Wright’s appearance, made it clear the committee did not accept his evidence.

At one point, Vaz said: “We do not accept for one moment the evidence you have just given that you did not know that this was an issue.”