Caught The Lying Bastards At It Again

Body-worn video of a woman's "degrading" arrest, which police falsely told a court did not exist, has been shared exclusively with the BBC.

It's a measure of how confident they are - or perhaps how haplessly incompetent - that it still exists to be found. 

The Chief Constable of Northamptonshire, Ivan Balhatchet, was found guilty of contempt of court in November and fined £50,000 for failing to release the body-worn videos to her.

Whereupon all copies of something they had denied the existence of should have disappeared. Do they learn nothing from the criminal element they deal with?

Both forces declined to comment due to ongoing damages claims for more than £3m, though in its civil defence, Northamptonshire Police insisted the use of force was lawful.

"I don't do well with injustice," says Buzzard-Quashie, 43, from west London, who is the founder of a corporate gifting company.

Oh, make no mistake, the woman herself isn’t a sympathetic character. But that’s ok, she doesn’t need to be to show the Northamptonshire farce up to be almost corrupt to the core!  Why 'almost'? Well...

Radio logs shared with the BBC reveal officers from the Met were in regular contact with their counterparts in Northamptonshire, appearing to press the urgency of apprehending Buzzard-Quashie by claiming she "lacked capacity" and had "indicated she will try [to kill herself]". The BBC asked the Met to explain the basis for this intelligence, but it refused to comment. Meanwhile, officers on the ground appeared to be confused by the level of interest in her. When instructed by a senior officer to "consider using Section 136 powers" to detain her under the Mental Health Act, one of the officers points out: "She presents as having capacity and has made no intent or threats to harm herself." When the same officer is then told to "lock her up for failing to stop", he replies: "Er, we can try that, but at no point have I lit the blue lights of the vehicle up."

So, there are some honest cops -how can they stand what the job has become?

After she was released, the case against her was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Of course it was. They know a losing case when they see one! 

The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Northamptonshire, Danielle Stone, told a panel she and Balhatchet were not made aware of the proceedings for contempt until October last year, but acknowledged there were "huge questions" about the chief constable's apparent lack of awareness, and has launched a review. The BBC has asked for comment from Balhatchet's predecessor, Nick Adderley, who was chief constable of Northamptonshire Police at the time of the incident in 2021.

Adderley… say, that name seems familiar….. 

Adderley is charged with fraud, misconduct in public office and making a false witness statement in relation to a separate matter and is due to stand trial in 2027.

Oh, right!