David Davis attends disciplinary hearings in regards to the ‘Plebgate Affair’

Posted

As published in The Guardian:
Officer said Plebgate ‘could topple Tories’: Mitchell asks Met police chief for full transcripts MP claims political nature of altercation was clear

A police officer involved in Plebgate at Downing Street claimed that the confrontation could “topple the Tory government”, according to an account of a Metropolitan police disciplinary hearing attended by Andrew Mitchell.

The claim is described by allies of Mitchell as the “tip of an iceberg” of a series of texts and emails that challenge the police account of the notorious confrontation between Mitchell and officers guarding Downing Street in September 2012.

The former chief whip has written to the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, to ask him to release the full transcripts of a series of disciplinary hearings into the conduct of seven Met officers involved in, or linked to, the incident at the gates of Downing Street.
In his letter, Mitchell seeks to highlight the significance of some of the evidence when he writes that one of the officers in Downing Street on the night of the confrontation was quick to see the political significance of the confrontation.

The officer sent a text on 21 September, two days after the altercation at the gates, and on the same day as the incident was revealed by the Sun, to say: “I can topple the Tory government.”

Mitchell says in his letter that the political nature of the incident was highlighted when an officer wrote after the incident that “the Fed need our help”, referring to the Police Federation.

The officers’ trade union was running a highly aggressive campaign against police cuts at the time, which culminated with officers campaigning outside the Tory conference a few weeks later dressed in T-shirts that read: “PC Pleb and Proud”.

The former chief whip, who was forced to resign from his government job because No 10 wanted to avoid a confrontation with the police, admits that he swore in the presence of the officers when he was told to wheel his bike through the Downing Street side gate, though he has consistently denied uttering the toxic word “pleb”.

But Mitchell told the Sunday Times at the weekend that he is preparing to sell his London home to fund the costs of a libel case bought by the officer who stopped him cycling through Downing Street’s main security gates on the evening of 19 September 2012. Mitchell is also suing the Sun, which revealed the confrontation two days later.

Toby Rowland, the police officer who claims that Mitchell described him as a “fucking pleb”, has won the support of the Police Federation to fund his libel action against Mitchell.

Rowland, who is demanding £200,000 in “damages including aggravated damages for libel, and if appropriate, slander”, claims in a statement to the high court that Mitchell did not initially accuse him of having lied over the use of the word “pleb” and had in fact apologised for his conduct.
Rowland wrote in the statement, released to the Mail on Sunday last month: “The clear implication of the apology was that he admitted to using the said words.”

Rowland is not one of the Met officers subject to seven disciplinary hearings – five for gross misconduct, two for misconduct – which were attended by Mitchell and his political ally, David Davis.
In his letter to Hogan-Howe, Mitchell says the evidence that emerged in the disciplinary hearings challenges the claim in March last year that no evidence has been found that police officers lied.
Mitchell wrote: “Given . . . the clear evidence at the hearings that a number of police officers did lie, you will understand our concern about the public being misled.”

He added: “While I wish to say that the way these hearings were run was undoubtedly fair and proper, I am deeply concerned that they were held in private and were not open to public and journalistic scrutiny.

“As I understand it, it is within your power to release, in full, the transcripts of these hearings and the accompanying evidence so the public can see for themselves the way police officers responsible for guarding Downing Street have conducted themselves.”

The Met said last night that information raised at misconduct hearings is confidential. But it added that a report into the incident in Downing Street, known as Operation Alice, would be published.
It said: “Mr Mitchell is aware that we will inform him, in advance of publication, what will be released and when. There are still outstanding gross misconduct hearings. To ensure that these important hearings are not jeopardised through abuse of process we will not comment any further until they have concluded.”

As published in The Guardian:
Andrew Mitchell asks Met chief to release Plebgate transcripts

Former chief whip says disciplinary hearing evidence will show police officers understood how row could affect government

A police officer involved in the Plebgate incident in Downing Street claimed that the confrontation could “topple the Tory government”, according to an account of a Metropolitan police disciplinary hearing attended by Andrew Mitchell.

The claim is described by allies of Mitchell as the “tip of an iceberg” of a series of texts and emails which challenge the police account of the notorious confrontation between the former chief whip and officers guarding the Downing Street gates in September 2012.

Mitchell has written to the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, to ask him to release the full transcripts of a series of disciplinary hearings into the conduct of seven Met officers involved in, or linked to, the incident.

In his letter, Mitchell seeks to highlight the significance of some of the evidence when he writes that one of the officers in Downing Street on the night of the confrontation was quick to see the political significance of it.

The officer sent a text on 21 September, two days after the altercation and on the same day as the incident was revealed by the Sun, to say: “I can topple the Tory government”.

Mitchell says in his letter that the political nature of the incident was highlighted when an officer wrote after the incident that “the Fed need our help”, referring to the Police Federation.

The officers union was running a highly aggressive campaign against police cuts at the time which culminated in officers campaigning outside the Tory conference a few weeks later dressed in T-shirts which said: “PC Pleb and Proud”.

Mitchell has told friends that he may have to sell his London home to fund two libel trials relating to the incident when officers prevented him cycling through Downing Street’s security gates on the evening of 19 September 2012. Toby Rowland, the police officer who claims Mitchell described him as a “fucking pleb”, has Police Federation support to fund a libel action against Mitchell.

The Tory politician – who was forced to resign from his government job because the row would not die down – admits that he swore in the presence of the officers, though he has consistently denied using the word “pleb”.

Rowland is not one of the Met officers subject to seven disciplinary hearings – five for gross misconduct, two for misconduct – which were attended by Mitchell and his political ally David Davis.
In his letter to Hogan-Howe, Mitchell says the evidence which emerged in the disciplinary hearings challenges the claim in March last year that no evidence had been found that police officers lied. He writes: “Given … the clear evidence at the hearings that a number of police officers did lie, you will understand our concern about the public being misled.”

Mitchell added: “While I wish to say that the way these hearings were run was undoubtedly fair and proper I am deeply concerned that they were held in private and were not open to public and journalistic scrutiny. As I understand it, it is within your power to release, in full, the transcripts of these hearings and the accompanying evidence so the public can see for themselves the way police officers responsible for guarding Downing Street have conducted themselves.

“We were extremely surprised at the facts that were revealed about the actions of numerous police officers before, during and after the incident on 19 September 2012.”

As published in The Times:
Plebgate officer ‘claimed they could bring down government’

Andrew MItchell caught on CCTV on the night of the “Plebgate”

A police constable at the heart of the Plebgate row that led to the resignation of a cabinet member boasted of being able to “topple this government”, it was claimed last night.

Andrew Mitchell alleged that the officer, who was on duty at the gates of Downing Street, texted a friend two days after the row that forced him to quit as chief whip and boasted of destroying those in power.

Mr Mitchell has claimed that he was set up by police after an angry altercation in September 2012. The former minister was alleged to have called the officers “f***ing plebs” after he was told he could not wheel his bicycle through the gates. He admits swearing but denies calling the officers plebs.

In a letter sent to the Metropolitan police commissioner yesterday and leaked to the media, Mr Mitchell said that the officer’s comments were revealed during a private disciplinary hearing. Mr Mitchell attended this hearing and others into the Plebgate affair, sometimes with his wife and sometimes with the MP David Davis. He took notes at them, and urged Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Met commissioner, to publish full transcripts.

His letter also reveals his concerns that the row was being used for political gain by the Police Federation, which was actively campaigning against government cuts to police services.
A transcript would show “that officers on duty were colluding with the Police Federation to fan the flames for political reasons, as was shown by the text/email exchange saying ‘the Fed need our help’,” Mr Mitchell said.

Three have been dismissed over the Plebgate saga. Separately, Toby Rowland, the policeman who insisted that Mr Mitchell made the remark, is demanding up to £200,000 in damages from the Tory MP for accusing him of lying.

In his letter, Mr Mitchell said that a transcript would show “that [the officer] who along with PC Rowland improperly obstructed my exit from Downing Street … was texting [their own] involvement in the affair as it became public . . . and claiming ‘I can topple this government’.”

He pointed out that the Metropolitan police had claimed no officers had lied over what had happened, despite “the clear evidence at the hearings that at least five did lie”. He added: “While I wish to say that the way these hearings were run was undoubtedly fair and proper I am deeply concerned that they were held in private and were not open to public and journalistic scrutiny.

“As I understand it, it is within your power to release, in full, the transcripts of these hearings and the accompanying evidence so the public can see for themselves the way police officers responsible for guarding Downing Street have conducted themselves.

“Surely it must be right to release the CCTV and let the public and journalists draw their own conclusions from what it shows . . . I am concerned that if any of this information is withheld, and any hint of a cover-up is left in the public mind, a signal will be sent that the police can get away with doing this to people who would have no chance to fight back and public confidence will be yet further undermined.”

In February, Sir Bernard apologised to Mr Mitchell for the conduct of PC Keith Wallis, who was jailed for a year for fabricating a witness account of the Plebgate incident.

Scotland Yard confirmed that it had received Mr Mitchell’s letter. However, it said that it would not release information heard in gross misconduct hearings as they were confidential, and added that it did not want to prejudice outstanding hearings.

A statement said that the Metropolitan police intended to publish a report detailing its investigation into the affair, known as Operation Alice, “in due course”.