Chief Constable Winton Keenen, his Head of Special Branch & Head of Crime Department OBSTRUCTING (and Delaying)) arrests of suspect/s in Martin McGartland attempted murder case

Martin McGartland made this Freedom of Information request to Northumbria Police This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was refused by Northumbria Police.

Martin MCGartland

12 February 2019

Dear Northumbria Police,

Chief Constable Winton Keenen, his Head of Special Branch & Head of Crime Department OBSTRUCTING (and delaying))the arrests of suspect/s in Martin McGartland attempted murder case .

Under the FOIA I want to know why CORRUPT Chief Constable Winton Keenen and his corrupt force and officers are continuing to BLOCK and OBSTRUCT the arrests of suspect/s as well as very important lines of enquiry in the 20 year unsloved Martin McGartland attempted murder case?

A case that has remained unsolved ONLY because of a serious criminal conspiracy and the most serious corruption by Northumbria Police who have conspired with MI5, Home office , CPS, DPP and the British Government since 17 June 1999 and right up until the present day. All to protect the IRA as well as IRA terrorists who tried to murder Martin McGartland. The same terrorists continue to be protected from investigation to this very day (and during the past 20 years).

Yours faithfully,

Martin McGartland

Martin McGartland (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

Corrupt Northumbria Police (and its useless and also Corrupt Crime Department) in the news again:
"Police failings shock: Blunders see gang accused of trafficking and raping girls walk free
Northumbria Police's Operation Optic, an investigation into the sexual abuse and exploitation of vulnerable girls, has ended in embarrassing failure" Link to story; https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/nor...

And yet Dame Vera Baird, the queen of self promotion and photo opportunities, is no where to be seen ...

The Story Text:

Police failings shock: Blunders see gang accused of trafficking and raping girls walk free
Northumbria Police's Operation Optic, an investigation into the sexual abuse and exploitation of vulnerable girls, has ended in embarrassing failure

Evening Chronicle - By Rob Kennedy,
18:00, 7 MAR 2019

Police failings have led to the dramatic collapse of a series of trials against a group of men accused of trafficking, grooming and raping girls in Newcastle.

A number of people were charged with extremely serious offences as part of Northumbria Police's Operation Optic, which involved allegations of vulnerable girls being sexually exploited and abused.

Reporting restrictions have meant we were unable to report anything about the cases until a series of three trials were complete.

The first trial has been taking place at Newcastle Crown Court since January but, we can now reveal, has been beset with problems and five separate juries have been sworn in to try the case.

However, it has now emerged that police failings on how evidence was recorded, secured and disclosed to defence teams left prosecutors with no alternative but to drop the case against all defendants.

As a result, all of those who were standing trial or were due to stand trial, have been acquitted of all charges and walked free.

It is estimated the police blunders will have cost taxpayers huge sums after the four-year investigation ended in embarrassing failure.

Police said they have apologised to the complainants in the case and are carrying out a review.

Chief Superintendent Scott Hall, head of Northumbria Police’s safeguarding department, said: “First and foremost, I want to acknowledge the bravery of the victims in these cases and we remain committed to ensuring they receive any support they may require.

"We have visited each to apologise for police failings which resulted in the cases not going ahead at court.

"These centred around how some evidence had been secured without meeting strict guidelines governing investigations.

"We will now conduct a review to understand how the failings occurred and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment any further at this stage.”

It is understood that, independent of the wider review, Northumbria Police's professional standards department are conducting an investigation and if any misconduct issues are identified as a result, these will be addressed appropriately.

Operation Optic came about as a result of Operation Sanctuary, for which seventeen men and one woman were jailed in 2017 for the sexual abuse and exploitation of girls and young women in Newcastle.

The case against the men who had been on trial since January collapsed on Monday but we had to wait until the charges were dropped against the other defendants before we could report what had happened.

On Monday, trial judge Robert Adams told jurors: "There has been a significant development in this court.

"The prosecution have a duty to review the case continually during the trial, against each defendant.

"In respect of counts where there is no evidence at all, you have already returned not guilty verdicts.

"In respect of the remaining counts, there was some evidence given by the complainant to you but in respect of each allegation, you may have concluded there were some problems concerning the evidence given by (the complainant).

"During last week a number of officers were cross-examined about the investigation process in relation to the recording of inquiries made, or, as the case may be, not made.

"The investigation must be transparent and must be fair.

"There must be integrity and the process must be able to stand up to scrutiny.

"Very properly, prosecutors have reviewed the case and concluded there is no reasonable prospect of a proper conviction in respect of any individual."

The judge directed the jury to find the men not guilty on all charges.

A CPS spokesperson said: “During the course of this trial, it emerged that some of the evidence in these cases had not been secured in accordance with the strict guidelines governing police investigations.

“Given the significance of the issues that came to light, there was no longer a realistic prospect of securing a conviction in each case and the Crown took the appropriate decision to formally offer no evidence against the defendants.”
The link to Story: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/nor...