THE senior judge for Northamptonshire has demanded answers from the police after a Northampton man was cleared of a hammer attack.
Shaheed Saeed, aged 30, of Esher Court, The Arbours, had been due to face two previous trials, charged with carrying out a hammer attack on August 7 last year which left a 44-year-old victim with bleeding to the brain, two holes in his skull and a tear through his ear.
A trial did not go ahead in January, or in February, and the one which ended yesterday at Northampton Crown Court was plagued with mistakes for which Judge Charles Wide QC said he held Northamptonshire Police responsible. He said: “This is a shocking failure on the behalf of the police.
“We have had two trials that were due to start – one in January one in February – but the police were not prepared for them. The police hadn’t done what they should have done. The phone records weren’t analysed properly, today the jury were left having to guess what they had done.
“The officer in the case admitted that he had mis-described the man. He said he was looking for a white man; the complainant said no such thing. In a case as important as this, this description was a very serious matter and the police failed to get it right. They failed to prepare for it.
“I want to know what is going to be done about this officer. There are significant wasted costs here.
“There have been terrible mistakes made; I want to know how they happened. I want a letter from no less than the Superintendent explaining why it was the police failed to comply with various orders, failed to prepare for the case.
“I want it on my desk on two weeks on Monday. Because I am seriously considering charging Northamptonshire Police for the costs of the aborted trial.”
Speaking to the jury he said: “I apologise for what has been utter incompetence.”
The victim told police that an Asian man had attacked him and identified Saeed in an identity parade. But an officer recorded he had described a white male.
The jury was told that if they had any doubt they were to find Saeed not guilty of wounding with intent, which they unanimously did within an hour.
Northamptonshire Police has now vowed to carry out a full investigation. Supt Simon Blatchly said: “It is too early to comment on Judge Wide’s observations but we take them very seriously indeed and our intention is to carry out a full review of this investigation.
“We will be carrying out a thorough assessment of what happened during the course of the investigation and we will then be able to respond to Judge Wide in full.”
Northampton Chronicle - Published on Saturday 12 March 2011
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