5 December 201116 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Lynette White case: Police trial collapses

originally by: BBC News
published: 1st December 2011

South Wales Police says it has asked the police watchdog to investigate after the UK’s biggest case involving alleged police corruption collapsed. Eight former officers were cleared of perverting the course of justice at Swansea Crown Court after the wrongful conviction of three men for murder.

The judge ruled the officers and two other defendants, who were also found not guilty, could not get a fair trial. The case follows the murder of Cardiff prostitute Lynette White in 1988.

Files relating to complaints by an original defendant were said to be missing, and the director of public prosecutions said he was “extremely concerned”. The cost of the investigations and trials is thought to run into tens of millions. One estimate put it as high as £30m.

30 November 201116 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Smiley Culture’s death in police raid does not justify charges, IPCC rules

originally by: The Guardian
published: 29th Nov 2011

Police have been criticised by an independent watchdog for a botched raid that led to the death of reggae star Smiley Culture, it was revealed on Tuesday. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) claim that Smiley Culture, otherwise known as David Emmanuel, died after stabbing himself through the heart during a drugs raid at his Surrey home on 15 March 2011.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) conducted an investigation into Emmanuel’s death. The summary of their final report – the coroner has asked that the full report is not made public or shared with Emmanuel’s family – condemns the raid as significantly flawed and compels the MPS to overhaul the way they plan and execute future drug seizures.

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10 November 201116 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Police to investigate mortuary ‘mix up’

originally by: Channel 4 News
published: 7th November 2011

Christopher Alder, 37, choked to death while handcuffed and lying on the floor of a police station in Hull, in the early hours of April 1 1998. It now appears a Hull pensioner of Nigerian descent, Grace Kamara, was buried in his place in 2000.

She’s understood to have died from natural causes in 1999 but her burial was delayed and finally scheduled for Friday.

The mix-up was only discovered when her friends and family were recently granted permission to identify the body. But they discovered Mr Alder’s remains were in her place in the mortuary.