Don’t let ‘cover-up’ cop off hook, says Lawrence’s father
THE father of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence has urged the head of Scotland Yard to block the retirement of a senior officer embroiled in an alleged plot to spy on his family. Commander Richard Walton plans to quit the Metropolitan Police on Wednesday, in a move that would allow him to avoid answering a misconduct case.
The £110,000-a year-officer, currently head of the force’s counterterrorism unit, is accused of secretly conspiring with two undercover officers tasked with gathering intelligence on the Lawrence family in the late 1990s.
Last week, the Independent Police Complaints Commission concluded that Mr Walton had a ‘case to answer’ over the misconduct allegations and recommended that he face disciplinary proceedings.
But he plans to leave the force this week, which would mean he could no longer be subjected to disciplinary proceedings. On retirement, he can walk away with a lump-sum pension payout of about £300,000, plus an index-linked annual income of £55,000.
The news angered the father of Stephen, who was stabbed to death by a racist gang in South London in 1993. Speaking from his home in Jamaica yesterday, Neville Lawrence said Met boss Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe must stop Commander Walton from ‘taking the easy way out’.
The 73-year-old added: ‘It should not be too late for Sir Bernard to use his powers to make him stay in the police, so that his case can go through the proper disciplinary procedure. He shouldn’t be allowed to dodge his way out – he should be made to face the music.
‘But the Met should have closed this loophole long ago. This inquiry [into spying on his family] has been going on for a long time now, so action should have been taken to ensure those involved are made to answer for what they are alleged to have done.
‘I would urge Sir Bernard to stop Commander Walton taking the easy way out. How can he just be allowed to retire quietly, with his big pension, when he is facing such serious accusations?’
It is alleged that Mr Walton was involved in a secret plot by a disgraced undercover unit to gather intelligence on the Lawrence family in the lead-up to publication of the damning Macpherson Inquiry report into Stephen’s murder.
The unit’s reports included the fact that the teenager’s parents had separated.
The recommendation for disciplinary proceedings against Mr Walton came from the IPCC following a 19-month investigation.
Scotland Yard says it can do nothing about the officer’s retirement plans as he has not been suspended over the claims. Mr Walton, 50, has declined to comment.
Mr Lawrence said that if the officer did not face a hearing it would be ‘yet another betrayal of my family by the Metropolitan Police’.
‘Made to face
the music’