Padstow's "Darkie Day" or "Mummers' Day"

Dear Ms Davis

I write in connection with your correspondence dated December 31, 2009
which was received by this office on January 4, 2010. I note you seek the
following information:

Please could you release all information which you have on file relating
to Padstow's Mummers' Day (also known as Darkie Day), including any of the
following:

a) any complaints received relating to the event, and any documents or
correspondence produced resulting from or in response to these complaints

b) any documentation surrounding any investigations conducted into the
event and the results of these investigations

c) any correspondence with the event organisers or other parties about the
event

d) any documentation supplied to and any correspondence with the Crown
Prosection Service in relation to the event

To avoid confusion, I am not referring just to the 2009 event, but
Mummer's Day as a whole - in other words, please could you release any
information that you can about the event, regardless of which year it
relates to.

Your request will be considered in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. You should expect to be sent a response within the
statutory limit of 20 working days, subject to the provisions of the Act.

Should you have any further inquiries concerning this matter, please
contact me quoting my reference number as above.

Yours sincerely

Steve Hawkins (55621)
Freedom of Information Assistant Officer
Tel 01392 452204 (22204)
[email address]
Freedom of Information Dept
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Dear Ms Davis

I write in connection with your request for information dated December 31,
2009 which was received by this office on January 4, 2010. I note you
seek access to the following information:

Please could you release all information which you have on file relating
to Padstow's Mummers' Day (also known as Darkie Day), including any of the
following:

a) any complaints received relating to the event, and any documents or
correspondence produced resulting from or in response to these complaints

b) any documentation surrounding any investigations conducted into the
event and the results of these investigations

c) any correspondence with the event organisers or other parties about the
event

d) any documentation supplied to and any correspondence with the Crown
Prosecution Service in relation to the event

To avoid confusion, I am not referring just to the 2009 event, but
Mummer's Day as a whole - in other words, please could you release any
information that you can about the event, regardless of which year it
relates to.

Following receipt of your request searches were conducted within Devon &
Cornwall Constabulary to locate information relevant to your request. I
can confirm that this constabulary holds the information you have
requested.

Extent of Searches to Locate Information
To locate the information relevant to you request searches were conducted
within Performance and Analysis Department and Cornwall and Isles of
Scilly Basic Command Unit.

Decision
I have today decided to disclose the requested information to you in
part. In accordance with the Section 17(1) of the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 this letter acts as a Refusal Notice for part of your request.

The exemption applied is section 40(2) (Personal information relating to a
third party) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Section 40 is an absolute exemption and therefore does not require the
application of a Prejudice or Public Interest Test. Disclosure of this
information would be likely to breach principles 1 and 2. These principles
require personal data to be: 1) processed (defined to include 'obtained')
fairly and lawfully and 2) obtained only for specified and lawful purposes
and not processed incompatibly with the specified purposes.
'Data subjects' are provided with certain legally enforceable rights under
the Data Protection Act 1998. The fact that the information is held for
lawful policing purposes, disclosing it onwards would breach the
principles, and would be incompatible with the data subject's right that
their data is held securely. By disclosing this information, the force
could be subject to enforcement proceedings under the Act if it breaches
any of those principles. For example, the 'fairness' of any disclosure of
personal data would be whether the disclosure would cause unnecessary or
unjustified distress or damage to the person whom the information is
about.

I regret that I am unable to meet your request in full but should you have
any further information needs in the future then please contact me.

Please find the attached documents:
Record 1: Disclosure Log
Record 2: Response to Freedom of Information request 105/2005
Record 3: Constabulary report from November 2004
Record 4: Front sheet to go with Record 5
Record 5: Copy of minutes with North Cornwall District Council - 01/12/04
Record 6: Email from Police Officer Richard Hockin - 03/12/04
Record 7: Email from Police Officer Richard Hockin - 08/12/04
Record 8: Email chain from Police Officer John Green - 29/04/05
Record 9: Debrief Re: Mummers Day - Padstow
Record 10: Crown Prosecution Service letter to Inspector Harrison

Copyright
The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your
own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for
the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial
publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder. Most
documents supplied by the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary will be our
copyright. Applications for the copyright owner's written permission to
reproduce any part of the attached information should be addressed to The
Force Legal Services Department, Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, Police
Headquarters, Middlemoor, Exeter, Devon EX2 7HQ. Information you receive
which is not subject to our copyright continues to be protected by the
copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information
originated. You must ensure that you gain their permission before
reproducing any third party information.

Complaint Rights
If you are not satisfied with the service you have received in relation to
your request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our
decision you should write to the Head of Information Management,
Information Management Department, Devon & Cornwall Constabulary,
Middlemoor, Exeter, Devon, EX2 7HQ.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your Force complaint or
review, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner at
Commissioner's Officer, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire,
SK9 5AF, telephone 01625 545700.

Should you have any further inquiries concerning this matter, please write
or contact quoting the reference number above.

Yours sincerely

Steve Hawkins (55621)
Freedom of Information Assistant Officer
Tel 01392 452204 (22204)
[email address]
Freedom of Information Dept
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References

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