IPCC outlines investigation involving former MPS Commissioner Lord Stevens

27 May 2015 03:29 PM

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating whether there was a failure of top rank or very senior police officers including, but not limited to, the former Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) commissioner Lord (John) Stevens to provide full, frank and truthful information on the issue of corruption to the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry in 1998.

The investigation follows a public complaint to the MPS from Neville Lawrence OBE with regards to Lord Stevens and his office. As a result, the force made a voluntary referral to the IPCC. No other officers or former officers were identified within that referral.

Lord Stevens was the Deputy Commissioner of the MPS at the time of the Inquiry and provided information, in the form of two letters from his office, to the Inquiry regarding anti-corruption intelligence and on-going enquiries.

The Stephen Lawrence Independent Review, conducted by Mark Ellison QC, found no evidence that anti-corruption intelligence which involved an officer who worked on the original Stephen Lawrence murder investigation, was provided to the Inquiry by the MPS.

IPCC investigators will examine the information known and the decisions made in compiling a letter sent from Lord Stevens’ office to the Inquiry dated 12 June 1998. The letter was the MPS response to a request from the Inquiry, sparked by a media report, as to whether officers involved in the Stephen Lawrence case were being investigated for corruption.

The IPCC investigation will also look at the reasons why no further response was provided to the Inquiry, following a letter from Lord Stevens’ office dated 11 September 1998, in light of the Inquiry Chair's subsequent request to be updated with any further developments about relevant anti-corruption enquiries.

The investigation is in its early stages and is overseen by IPCC Deputy Chair, Sarah Green.

Notes

Background reading can found at pages 94 and 123-4, volume 1, the Stephen Lawrence Independent Review