Statement following conclusion of Warwickshire misconduct proceedings

4 Feb 2016 03:32 PM

A misconduct hearing held by Warwickshire Police yesterday found no misconduct against Detective Sergeant Stuart Hinton, who faced allegations he gave misleading accounts of a meeting with Andrew Mitchell MP to the media in October 2012.

DS Hinton faced the conduct panel over allegations he breached the standards of professional behaviour, specifically those relating to honesty and integrity, authority respect and courtesy, and discreditable conduct. The case was found not proven on all counts.

The conduct allegations followed a meeting with Mr Mitchell at his Sutton Coldfield constituency office in October 2012.

The IPCC carried out an independent investigation into the conduct of DS Hinton and two other Police Federation representatives Inspector Ken Mackaill and Police Sergeant Chris Jones.

In December 2015 a misconduct hearing held by West Mercia Police found Inspector Ken Mackaill had breached the standards of professional behaviour, amounting to misconduct, but no further action was taken against him.

In respect of Police Sergeant Chris Jones of West Midlands Police, the IPCC Commissioner had previously agreed that no action should be taken in his case. 

The IPCC completed its investigation in May 2015, and a decision to publish its report will be made in due course.

An IPCC spokesperson said:

“The IPCC carried out a thorough investigation into serious allegations serving police officers gave deliberately false and misleading accounts to the media in an apparent effort to discredit a then Cabinet Minister. It is the IPCC’s role to gather the evidence and establish whether officers should face misconduct proceedings. It is for the relevant police force to hold a misconduct hearing and determine the outcome.”