Fit Up (11 page)

O
n the morning of 13 June 2005, Jeremy and I busied ourselves and tidied up in preparation for our house guest. Staring out of our front room window, we waited anxiously for Inspector Hunt to arrive. Despite these feelings of anticipation, we felt that this meeting was just about going through the formalities because we had to and, for us, it really was a waste of time. However, we knew that this was just another step that we had to take to further our civil action and to avoid any future criticism from the courts for not looking for redress via this route.

In the initial response from the IPCC to our complaint they had informed us that they were completely independent of the police service and responsible for ensuring that the police complaints system in England and Wales works effectively and fairly. It went on to further explain that each police force is responsible for considering and recording any complaints made against it. However, if we were unhappy with the police force’s decision regarding our complaint, then we had the right to appeal to the IPCC. The final paragraph stated that the matter had been referred to the Professional Standards Department (PSD) of Hertfordshire Constabulary for consideration.

We had thought that the whole idea of having an IPCC investigation was to have just that, an ‘independent’ investigation, but by being
referred to the PSD it was going to be police investigating police. How was that going to be unbiased? we wondered.

Inspector Hunt had been assigned by the PSD to investigate Jeremy’s case on the basis of four complaints made by us:

1. Oppressive conduct or harassment. The complainant alleged that the officer unnecessarily, aggressively and maliciously pursued an investigation into his alleged downloading of pornographic material.
   
2. Mishandling of property. The complainant further alleged that the officer allowed the complainant’s property to be damaged and retained for an excessive amount of time.
   
3. Other irregularity in procedure. The complainant alleged that the evidence was poorly prepared and prolonged the investigation of the case.
   
4. Other. The complainant also alleged that the officer allowed witnesses to talk about the case to other people as a result of which his business was damaged.
   

Finally, a car parked up outside our house. Thankfully, there was no Hertfordshire Constabulary insignia on display and I breathed a sigh of relief. I couldn’t bear the neighbouring curtain-twitchers getting any more excitement at our expense.

Two men got out, looked up at the house and approached the front door. Jeremy opened the door and Inspector Hunt introduced himself and his colleague. I had been waiting in the dining room so that we could sit at a table and I could get refreshments.

Inspector Hunt and his colleague introduced themselves to me as I ushered them to sit down. Jeremy sat down with his notepad while I set about getting the teas and coffees before joining them.

Inspector Hunt opened the meeting by apologising for the fact that Jeremy had felt it necessary to make a complaint against the police. He said that they take such matters very seriously and that Jeremy’s case was already being investigated. He said that he had read Jeremy’s statement but wanted to hear about what happened from 30 October onwards in his own words.

Jeremy started to recount the events. He had it off pat now as he had lost count of how many times he had had to go through this story. I also knew it by heart but it was never easy to hear and each time it was repeated I’d relive the moments with him. Inspector Hunt was making notes, occasionally looking up at Jeremy when he paused, while the other officer sat with his hands folded on the table, looking on in silence. He looked totally unmoved and all through Jeremy’s testimony he never said a word. I got the feeling that these two were also here to go through the formalities, tick their boxes and be off. I thought that Inspector Hunt had felt some sympathy towards us, but not his colleague.

As the meeting was coming to a close Inspector Hunt told us that we had two choices about how the PSD would deal with our complaint. One option would be for them to instruct a fuller, detailed inquiry and interview everyone associated with the case, which could take up to two years or more. While this form of investigation was under way we would not be able to pursue our civil claim against Hertfordshire Constabulary until after it was concluded. The second option would be to have our complaint locally resolved, which would mean that our concerns would be brought to the attention of Hopkins and the report put on his file. It was tempting to start the ball rolling and give Hopkins the punishment he so deserved by going for the fuller investigation but we could not
possibly wait up to two years for a result. We also didn’t want to hold up our pursuit of justice regarding Gerard and the libel and slander case so we chose to have a local resolution. In the meantime, Hopkins would think that he had got off lightly and that Jeremy and I had gone away.

How wrong he would be.

21
June was going to be a hot day. The sky was a brilliant unbroken blue and the early morning already warm. I was relieved to get to work to enjoy the coolness of the air conditioning and to get some paperwork done while I felt alert enough. My evenings were full of late, helping Jeremy with the preparation of our two litigations and the immense amount of reading and studying made me feel very weary by the afternoon. Although I would fall into bed exhausted, sure that I would not wake until morning, my sleep pattern was totally erratic. There was no rest in my dreams either, where I was always opening the front door to the boys and girls in blue who invaded the house while I chased after them and tried to stop them taking my belongings. Then I would wake, partly to relief that it was just a dream but then the rage would seep in and keep me awake before my burning eyes would close for a couple of hours more.

My stomach rumbled with hunger and I looked up at the clock, it was close to lunchtime. Then the phone rang. I lifted up the receiver and took an intake of breath to greet the caller, but before I could utter a word I heard Jeremy announce, ‘I’m going to be arrested this afternoon.’ My heart felt like it had been clenched inside a fist and I was so affected by the immediate shock of this news that I was having trouble
formulating a response. I managed to utter, ‘Whatever for?’ but I must have sounded quite panic-stricken because I could see Ray looking at me, obviously concerned.

Jeremy was seething with anger and I managed to calm him down enough for him to tell me that a PC Swain from Welwyn Garden City Police had asked him to come to the station to be interviewed or he would face being arrested. I asked him whether he was going, which I immediately realised was stupid, and I got a terse reply: ‘Of course I am, I have to. And in any case I don’t want the police back at our house again.’ My head was all over the place. I offered to go with him but he declined and said he would go himself to find out what it was all about. Joined-up thinking was starting to kick in and I told Jeremy to contact Irene Hill and ask her to represent him.

‘Don’t you dare go to that police station without a solicitor present,’ I said firmly. But innocent and naïve Jeremy merely replied, ‘But I don’t know what exactly it’s all about yet, do I?’ I think if I had been standing in front of Jeremy at this moment I would have given him a slap to bring him to his senses.

‘For pity’s sake,’ I said. ‘The last time you were interviewed by the police without a solicitor you were far too chatty, sorry, I meant helpful to the police and look where that got you. Please, please go with a solicitor. If you don’t do it for yourself, do it for me,’ I begged. Finally, I had got through to him and he said he would ring Irene.

Moments later he called back and said that he was on his way to Welwyn Garden City. Irene could not attend but she was sending someone. I breathed a sigh of relief but I was still frightened.

No longer hungry and not wanting to see anyone, I went home to see Sasha. It was going to be another very long and tense afternoon.

When the call came through from PC Swain for Jeremy, he had been parking up outside our house.

PC Swain introduced herself before getting right to the point: ‘Due to information received we would like you to come into the police station to be arrested so that we can interview you in relation to a complaint received from one of your customers.’

Jeremy, initially thrown, interrupted her flow and said, ‘Look, before you go on, I need to enlighten you to the fact that I am about to sue Hertfordshire Constabulary for wrongful arrest, malicious prosecution and misfeasance in public office. I don’t mind if you want to arrest me for this nonsense but it will add to my damages.’

There was a deathly silence at the end of the phone and Jeremy thought they had suddenly been cut off. Finally, she responded: ‘May I put you on hold, Mr Clifford, as I need to speak to my sergeant?’

‘Sure,’ Jeremy said coolly.

After what seemed like forever, PC Swain came back to Jeremy and said, ‘Mr Clifford, I have spoken to my sergeant and we have decided that we will not arrest you, but I would be grateful if you would come to see me for a chat.’

Jeremy agreed to do so as he did not want to be obstructive, but as he hung up the phone he wondered what the hell was going on.

If Jeremy wasn’t annoyed about this whole waste of time already, the effort to drive all the way to Welwyn Garden City from Watford didn’t help. He had been to a lot of courts over the past months and now he was beginning to feel harassed.

Upon arriving at the station, he announced himself to the officer at the desk and told them that he was there to meet PC Swain. He had been told by Irene that under no circumstances was he to proceed with any interview until the solicitor got there. He did not have to wait long, however, as the young, smartly dressed man behind him introduced himself from Smith, Brown & Sprawson.

There was little time to chat, not that there was really much to tell, and
Jeremy quickly briefed him on what PC Swain had said when she called. He was already up to speed with past events from Irene.

Eventually they found themselves sitting down in a small room with PC Swain and another female officer. They were then told that the interview would be recorded. Jeremy could not help feeling apprehensive – a police interview room was never a comfortable place to be.

PC Swain, dressed in plain clothes, opened the interview. ‘We have received an allegation, Mr Clifford, that you sold Mr Lewis a Manfrotto 521 LANC controller when, in fact, you were meant to have sold him a Manfrotto 523 LANC controller.’

Jeremy glanced across at his solicitor, whose brow was furrowed in puzzlement at her opening statement. Leaning forward in astonishment, he could feel himself going red with the effort to suppress the hysterical laughter that was bubbling up inside him. He knew he would have to compose himself before answering because if he started to giggle he wouldn’t be able to stop.

‘What the fuck is she on about?’ he thought.

Obviously she had no idea what these items were. Jeremy explained that the Manfrotto 521 is a multifunctional LANC controller suitable for many camcorders. It clips on to a pan bar of a tripod and then a cable is connected to the LANC socket on the camcorder. This allows the user to operate various camcorder functions without having to touch the camcorder. The Manfrotto 523 does the same as the 521 but instead of being a clip-on accessory it comes built into its own pan bar, thereby replacing the existing pan bar of the tripod you are using. As to why he sold Mr Lewis the 521, this was, he explained, because the 523 was out of stock and rather than keep Mr Lewis waiting, he supplied the cheaper model and credited his account for about £40. Why Mr Lewis’s camera accessories were of sudden interest to the police was baffling. Surely PC Swain and her colleague who sat next to her should be out on the
streets catching real criminals – not investigating the shopping habits of a member of the general public, Jeremy thought. Sending out a slightly different model to that of the one requested hardly constituted a crime that should be brought to the attention of the police!

PC Swain then asked how transactions were conducted by the company from the time that a customer calls to receiving goods. He answered, but still he could not see the point of the questioning or the police involvement generally. Jeremy again looked over at his solicitor, who was still dumbstruck with astonishment and clearly, like Jeremy, had no clue as to where all this was going.

After a further half an hour of interrogation about varieties of camcorder accessories, which Jeremy had answered as if he was doing a sales pitch, he was allowed to leave. PC Swain gathered up her papers in a file and said that she would be making further enquiries before sending it to the CPS, who would consider whether or not to press charges. Now he really wanted to laugh out loud; he thought she had to be joking. He wanted to get her by the shoulders, give her a good shake and, based on her line of questioning, ask her what could possibly be the charge? She had been insinuating some kind of fraud but had no evidence to support it.

As Jeremy stepped out of the police station he and the solicitor looked at each other. ‘Jeremy, what the hell was that all about?’ he asked, to which Jeremy replied, ‘I haven’t got a clue.’ The solicitor told him that at best Mr Lewis’s grievance should be conducted as a civil case for the small claims court, and certainly wasn’t an investigation for an already overstretched police force to put before the CPS. With that, he and Jeremy shook hands and went their separate ways.

Finally, putting me out of my misery, Jeremy called. He said that he would explain everything at home but that the whole thing had been a waste of time for all concerned.

For our litigation, Jeremy requested copies of the tapes of the interview
as he felt it might be important if he considered harassment charges, but this request was turned down with no reason given as to why.

Jeremy remembered Mark Lewis. He was one of his customers at UK Professional Video before it closed. The police had called Jeremy back in April with a complaint from Lewis and they were satisfied that there was no evidence of illegal activity. Even so, Mr Lewis had made personal threats by email to Jeremy, and in the end he had asked outright if Lewis knew Gerard. After that, communication ceased abruptly and he had heard no more about Lewis until now.

The whole incident was rather bizarre and there was no doubt that Gerard had had some involvement. No matter, we thought, he was going to get what was coming to him very soon.