Met to test claims of a cover-up by Scots police
THE UK’s biggest police force is to investigate claims Scottish undercover officers burned documents as part of a cover-up.
London’s Metropolitan Police will probe the allegations after Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said ‘events’ at the now-defunct ‘Scottish FBI’ were ‘wholly unsatisfactory and unprofessional’.
Deputy Chief Constable Fiona Taylor led an internal investigation into the claims.
In a report to be considered at a public board meeting of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) in Edinburgh tomorrow, Mr Livingstone said Mrs Taylor had reported back and as a result he was ordering a ‘peer review’ by an outside force, to ‘ensure all legitimate inquiries have been carried out’. He said it would also ‘identify any further lines of investigation which should be pursued’.
Earlier this year, Mr Livingstone said he was ‘shocked’ by claims undercover officers at the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) had been told to destroy documents. The controversy began after it emerged in a Court of Session judgment in February that an SCDEA whistleblower had alleged she was ordered to buy a garden incinerator and petrol to dispose of paperwork.
The woman claimed retired detectives working for the organisation said: ‘What is going on? This is like [police TV series] Life on Mars.’
Intelligence officers were said to have been told to burn documents on wasteland but after uniformed colleagues arrived they were told to do so in a yard at the SCDEA’s HQ in Paisley, Renfrewshire.
A judge ruled the woman, known as Mrs K, was subjected to a lack of fair treatment after she raised a £1million damages claim against former Police Scotland Chief Constable Sir Stephen House – now Deputy Commissioner at the Met.
Mrs K, who joined Grampian Police in 1990, maintained she was a whistleblower, but felt she was being treated as a wrong-doer. She was granted illhealth retirement in 2013.
A Police Scotland briefing paper submitted to the SPA and published online last night said Mrs Taylor had led an internal investigation of the claims by Police Scotland’s anticorruption unit. Her probe confirmed that the SCDEA’s professional standards unit ‘carried out an investigation’ into the claims made by Mrs K in 2011, ‘with consideration given to potential criminality and potential officer misconduct’.
Mr Livingstone’s report said he recognised the ‘legitimate interest that exists about what took place in 2011, and the importance of public confidence in the vital area of covert policing’. He added: ‘To that end, I have requested that an external force, which has significant knowledge and experience in the area of covert policing, carry out a peer review to provide independent assurance.’
The Mail understands that will be the Metropolitan Police.
Mr Livingstone said: ‘On completion and receipt of the peer review, I will determine what steps, if any, are required to ensure the integrity of the Police Scotland response and provide further public reassurance over this episode.’
‘Potential officer misconduct’