PC made up victim’s statement after woman feared for safety on bus

A POLICE officer deliberately lied and made up a false victim statement after a vulnerable woman reported she was racially abused and threatened on a bus.

A two-day misconduct hearing explored allegations that Derbyshire police officer Ian Biggin had failed to investigate properly a serious incident which left the woman fearing for her safety.

All allegations against Biggin – which he denied – over the way he handled the case were proven true.

The officer of 13 years’ service resigned from his role just days before a three-day misconduct hearing was due to start.

But now his hopes of a future career in policing have been left seriously damaged after the hearing’s panel concluded his actions were deemed to be of “serious gross misconduct”.

The hearing centred on a disturbing incident on January 27 this year when a woman claimed she was racially abused and threatened by a neighbour on a bus journey home in Derbyshire.

Understood to have been so terrified by the events, the victim rang the bell immediately and got out of the bus miles before her chosen destination.

The woman then called police to report the incident before realising the perpetrator had also left the bus, leaving her fearing for her safety.

PC Biggin arrived at the woman’s location around an hour later, after there was confusion over the directions, which was said not to be the officer’s fault.

The officer then told the victim to get the bus back home and he would see her later at her home address to talk about the incident.

During the second meeting, PC Biggin got the victim to sign a box at the bottom of his notebook entry. The victim believed this was to confirm he had attended her house but, unknown to her, it also included her statement.

The officer also declined to see a video in which it was claimed showed a previous racial episode involving the same neighbour.

During the next day, the officer then updated the entry of the incident and falsely stated that the victim did not want the police involved.

The alleged victim heard nothing following PC Biggin’s visit and weeks later raised concerns when the police asked her for feedback into how well the police contact with her had been. Her concerns then prompted an investigation.

Witness A told the hearing on Monday how PC Biggin quickly dismissed the idea of CCTV being used to help the investigation.

She said PC Biggin told her that CCTV from the bus would be “grainy” and would not show anything conclusive.

However, in May, bosses of Stagecoach told police that the bus’s CCTV was “high definition” quality.

But at that time, it was said the CCTV footage for that day [January 27] had already been overwritten – meaning it was no longer available and potentially significant evidence was lost.

The panel found that PC Biggin had made no adequate attempts to gather the CCTV evidence when it was available.

The chair of the panel, David Tyme, said the former officer was “wholly responsible for his actions” and had “failed to act diligently” throughout the investigation.

It was concluded that former PC Biggin would have been dismissed without notice had he not tendered his resignation.

A Derbyshire police spokesperson said: “The hearing heard allegations that former officer, PC Biggin, conducted himself in a manner that amounted to misconduct.

“Members of the public, as well as the force, expect the highest levels of professionalism from officers and staff and, in this instance, the former constable did not meet these expectations. The hearing decided that, had he not already resigned from his position, that he would have been dismissed.”