Oops! PC takes 'unfit' drink-drive suspect's 156mph rally car - and crashes it through TWO gardens

• Patrolman wrote off rally car in late night spin
• He's fined £135 and gets four points on his licence

A police officer who wrote off a suspect drink-driver's high powered rally car and drove it into TWO gardens during a late night spin has been fined.

PC Mark Colebrook, 30, crashed the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution which was due to be towed away by a truck to a police compound in the early hours of September 3 last year.

But as he moved the car he lost control of 156-mph motor.

Write-off: The wreck of Matthew Ade's car is lifted from the garden where it ended up after the crash

Wreckage: The 156-mph Mitusbishi lies on its side as police arrange for its removal following their colleagues' late night spin in the car in Cheshire

During the impact, the Mitsubishi ploughed through the gardens of two luxury homes in Hale, Cheshire, fishtailed and flipped on to its side. 

The car's owner Matthew Ades, 23, only discovered his £14,000 pride and joy had been trashed after he appeared at a police station for failing a breath test.

PC Colebrook was originally charged with aggravated vehicle taking along with colleague Stuart Foy, 39, and the case was due to be heard at Crown Court last week.

But magistrates in Rochdale were told that the pair had been given permission to move the car by a sergeant who deemed the vehicle was in a dangerous position.

PC Stuart Foy (left) and PC Mark Colebrook. Both officers had minor injuries after the early morning crash

The Greater Manchester officers sustained minor injuries in the early morning crash at the junction of Hale Road and Rydal Drive.

The more serious charges were dropped as Colebrook, of Widnes, Cheshire, admitted careless driving, while no evidence was offered against Foy, of Sale, Manchester.

Colebrook and Foy had denied aggravated vehicle taking and causing up to £5,000 damage to a patio door, window, gate, trees and fencing.

Colebrook was fined £135, given four penalty points and ordered to pay £200 court costs.

The incident happened last autumn as owner Ades, a car salesman, was driving through the village of Hale Barns near Altrincham at 2am after drinking a bottle of Becks beer.

High performance: A Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution which was a write off

Another police patrolman saw the Mitsubishi travelling at high speed and pulled Ades over.

Tests revealed he had 42 microgammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

Ades was taken to Pendleton police station while his vehicle awaited a recovery truck. 

The two patrolman were said to have been asked to move the vehicle by a sergeant because it was in an unsafe place but it crashed further down the road.

Ades, a father of one, pleaded guilty to drink driving earlier this year and was fined £200 and ordered to pay a £75 victim surcharge.

He was also banned from driving for 12 months which can be reduced to nine months if he completes a driving course.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: 'The two officers concerned remain on restricted duties pending the outcome of an assessment by the GMP Professional Standards Branch that will determine whether or not they face internal disciplinary action.'

1st June 2011

Retired police officer, 87, to spend rest of his life in prison for sex attacks stretching across 45 years

Jailed: Bryan Davis is expected to spend the rest of his life behind bars

A retired police officer is expected to spend the rest of his life behind bars after committing a string of sickening sex crimes.

Bryan Davis, 87, was today jailed for 11 years after being found guilty of 20 historical offences including rape and indecent assault over a 45-year period.

The octogenarian, who retired as an Avon and Somerset police officer in 1976, had denied indecently assaulting two girls under the age of 14.

He also denied seven indecent assaults, six rapes and five further charges which took place between 1954 and 1998.

But the jury unanimously found him guilty of 19 charges and guilty of a remaining indecent assault.

Judge Darwall-Smith jailed Davis for 11 years at the sentencing at Bristol Crown Court.

Avon and Somerset Police welcomed the sentence and praised his victims for coming forward.

Superintendent Sarah Crew said: 'Bryan Davis believed he had got away with these crimes, which have left his victims with scars for a number of years.

'Having committed the offences over a period of 40 years, his victims had the courage to come forward and speak to specialist detectives who placed him before the courts.

'The sentence passed today is welcomed and I hope that it brings some comfort to his victims.'

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson added: 'The successful prosecution of Bryan Davis illustrates that however long ago crimes like this were committed, the police and Crown Prosecution Service will work together to ensure offenders are brought to justice.'

1st June 2011

Avon and Somerset former Pc jailed for child sex abuse

A former Avon and Somerset Police officer has been jailed for 11 years after being convicted of 20 sex offences against children.

Bryan Davis, 87, of Gilslake Avenue, Brentry, Bristol, was accused of sexual assault charges, including six of rape.

One of Davis's victims was aged 13 when the abuse took place.

"The sentence passed today is welcomed and I hope that it brings some comfort to his victims," said Supt Sarah Crew, from Avon and Somerset Police. 

Bryan Davis abused and raped girls between 1954 and 1998

"Having committed the offences over a period of 40 years, his victims had the courage to come forward and speak to specialist detectives who placed him before the courts.

Davis retired as a police officer in 1976.

The court heard how he had abused and raped girls between 1954 and 1998. 

Davis was charged with 11 counts of indecent assault on a female; six charges of rape; and three of gross indecency with a female child.

He was found guilty by a jury following a trial in April.

1 June 2011 

Local Freedom of Information campaigner shares full archive of recent police questions and answers

Police vans at the RBS headquarters in Edinburgh during 2010's Climate Camp | pic: Michael MacLeod

Edinburgh's local police force has made another full month's worth of Freedom of Information answers available online. 

The large data dump includes crime logs for local schools, registered sex offender records and details of police sickness and misconduct proceedings. 

The information was obtained by citizen journalist Michael Traill, a council worker from Portobello. Read more about him here. He says on his blog:

"One change that I think should be made to FOISA (the Freedom of Information Scotland Act) is that everybody that is subject to the act must provide an online archive of its responses to requests for information.
"I firmly believe there is a public interest in all responses being made available to everyone."

Traill is often contacted by news reporters asking him for comment on background on the facts he uncovers. His investigations often lead to national news stories. 

He was first to report that last year's Climate Camp protests in Edinburgh cost police £650,000. We linked to the information he got for February in this post. 

You can download the information for March at this link. As Traill points out, it's a big document. 

Thursday 5 May 2011

Act calling authorities to account

GRAHAM Smith, director of freedom of information at the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), explains how the Act is making public authorities more accountable: Since the Freedom of Information Act came into force in January 2005 interest in how public authorities operate has been on an upward spiral, and the relationship between people in the UK and the public authorities that serve them has transformed. 

Public authorities are now more accountable for how taxpayers’ money is spent. 

Thanks to the Act the public has found out all sorts of interesting and useful information, ranging from the costs of major transport projects, such as the second runway at Stansted Airport, to more local issues such as the amount of fines raised from speed cameras in their area. 

The Freedom of Information Act gives you the right to access official information held by any public body; national or local. 

This includes government departments, local authorities; schools and colleges, NHS trusts, GPs and dentists, as well as police forces. 

To find out more about the Act, visit the ICO website at ico.gov.uk. The website includes information on how to make an FOI request and what you should expect once this has been done. 

Tuesday 31st May 2011

Secret police

 
The Oxford Mail used an FOI request to discover only about three crimes for every 1,000 reported to police were released to the public. 

A four-week study, in 2008, showed police released information or appealed for witnesses 22 times when they were called 6,636 times about crime – 0.3 per cent. 

The investigation showed there were reports of 49 robberies, 41 sexual offences, 310 burglaries and 452 violent incidents. 

But when the Oxford Mail asked for details, Thames Valley Police refused to give any further information. 

Inside job  - In 2006, an FOI request revealed thousands of pounds worth of personal belongings had been stolen from police stations and police vehicles in Oxfordshire. 

And, although the files did not list the police stations where the thefts occurred, it did reveal that some were “inside jobs” – thefts from fellow police officers and staff. 

Among the items stolen were wallets, credit cards, cheque books, mobile phones, cash, cameras, clothing and a personal organiser. 

Tuesday 31st May 2011

Report calls for shake-up of the Met

 London Assembly highlights scope for savings and need for clarity about what comprises frontline policing

Fundamental reform of the Metropolitan police is needed, as incremental efficiency improvements will no longer be sufficient in make the huge savings needed, according to the London Assembly.

In a report published by the budget and performance committee, the mayor of London has been urged to make the scale of changes needed clear to the public. The report found that not enough is being done to define what is meant by 'frontline' policing and said the public will be confident in the Met's ability to deliver high level services with reduced resources only if the mayor clearly communicates his commitment to prioritising policing activities.

The committee found that officer numbers are not an accurate measure of the Met's performance. Its chair, John Biggs, said he wants to see the debate move on to "more sophisticated ground" and called for the Operational Policing Measure, a tool for categorising the Met's workforce based on roles officers and staff perform, to be used instead.

Another key finding in the report was the need for more civilian staff to be employed in support roles. The committee recognised that this will not always be possible, but said there is scope for savings to be made by employing civilians with specific professional skills for specialist support roles.

The committee also highlighted the scope for savings in specialist units, which it says have grown in a piecemeal and inefficient way. It called for a greater balance between specialist units and regular policing and for more units to share common functions.

The committee also said the Met should make greater use of technology to improve productivity and highlighted the successful use of handheld computers in the Chicago police.

Wednesday 1 June 2011