Paedophile Police Officer Lee Bartram

The request was successful.

Dear Attorney General’s Office,
I note from recent media that the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police,Dave Thompson, was going to arrange an appeal regarding the apparently lenient suspended sentance given by Judge James Burbidge Q.C to his convicted paedophile Officer p.c Lee Bartram.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bi...

I note that today,19 March 2019, the published media report that the appeal by the Chief Constable had failed,but there is little evidence regarding how the decision was made or circulated, no obvious press release,nothing on the police or the Attorney General`s website, yet TWO local newspapers have reported the situation.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/black-c...

FOI Q1.Please disclose a copy of the appeal request issued on behalf of Chief Constable Dave Thompson, and all the corresponding replies/acknowlegements issued by the Attorney General`s Office.
FOI Q2.Please advise of when and how the local newspapers were informed of the appeal result,when nothing was displayed on both the Attorney General`s website and their Twitter account,and advise who informed them and exactly what they were told,and why nothing appeared on the official websites.

Thanking you in anticipation,

Yours faithfully,

Dennis Fallon(BScHons)

AGO Correspondence, Attorney General's Office

Thank you for contacting the Attorney General’s Office (AGO).

 

Please note the Attorney General provides legal advice to the government
and is unable to give legal advice, assistance or support to individuals.
The Attorney General does not have investigatory powers.

 

We strive to answer all correspondence that falls within the remit of the
AGO within 20 days. However, we are unable to reply to matters that do not
fall within the responsibility of the department.

 

If your correspondence is in relation to:

 

·       Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) matters or complaints – please
contact the CPS: [1]http://www.cps.gov.uk/ or refer to the CPS complaints
procedure: [2]http://www.cps.gov.uk/contact/feedback_a...

·       Courts or judges – please contact the Ministry of Justice:
[3]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...  

·       Police – please contact the Home Office:
 [4]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...

 

You may wish to redirect your correspondence to another department that
has responsibility for the issue you have raised.

 

If your email is regarding the case of David de Freitas, please note that
the Attorney General is giving consideration to the requests made by Mr De
Freitas, and will make a decision in due course.

More information about the role of the AGO can be found at our website:
[5]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati....  

 

References

Visible links
1. http://www.cps.gov.uk/
2. http://www.cps.gov.uk/contact/feedback_a...
3. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
4. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
5. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...

AGO Correspondence, Attorney General's Office

Dear Dennis Fallon,

Thank you for your FOI request to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO).

The AGO will respond to your request within the deadline requirement of the FOIA legislation.

Yours sincerely,

FOI Officer
E: [Attorney General’s Office request email]
T: 020 7271 2492
5-8 The Sanctuary, London, SW1P 3JS

@attorneygeneral | gov.uk/ago

Making law and politics work together at the heart of the UK constitution

show quoted sections

dennis fallon left an annotation ()

Both local newspapers quote EXACTLY the same words,on their websites displayed from 7am Tuesday 19th March,QUOTE,"“A referral under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme to the Court of Appeal can only be made if a sentence is not just lenient but unduly so, such that the sentencing judge made a gross error or imposed a sentence outside the range of sentences reasonably available in the circumstances of the offence.The threshold is a high one, and the test was not met in this case.”
My concerns are that the Attorney General`s office,or the local CPS,contacted the local newspapers specially,without informing the media at large for unacceptable reasons.

dennis fallon left an annotation ()

The police get off lightly and it is just not fair.I note today that a doctor working under real stress,ie in a proper job, has been sentenced by Judge Simon Drew QC to two and half years in jail,plus ordered to register as a sex offender for life,because 6 years ago,between September 3 and 4 September 2012, he had used Skype to engage with a girl who said she was 13 and from Norway.There was no evidence that he was part of a network or shared any images,just his own personal aberration,and instead of providing support,not being protected by any Masonic Unity protection,he experienced the full force of the law.No wonder CC Dave Thompson thought pc Bartram`s suspended sentence for being part of a paedophile network was embarrassingly lenient,but hey ho.
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/mi...

AGO Correspondence, Attorney General's Office

1 Attachment

Dear Dennis Fallon,

Please see the attached AGO response to the FOI request you made on 19 March 2019.

Yours Sincerely,

FOI Officer

FOI Officer
E: [Attorney General's Office request email]
T: 020 7271 2492
5-8 The Sanctuary, London, SW1P 3JS

@attorneygeneral | gov.uk/ago

Making law and politics work together at the heart of the UK constitution

show quoted sections

Dear AGO Correspondence,
I am reluctant to request an appeal because your response has been exceptionally prompt,helpful and clear, but the information provided conflicts somewhat with the media reports and leads to a requirement for further clarification.
I would be obliged if you would simply treat this followup as a request for clarification under the same request, or alternatively if you wish you may treat it as an appeal or a new request, whichever you consider the most appropriate.Please advise me how you wish to treat it and I can mark the whatdotheyknow website accordingly.
Your response advises" This office does not hold the information requested. A referral was not received on behalf of Chief Constable Dave Thompson; the sentence was referred to us by members of the public. If it assists, it appears from the attached news report that the local newspapers were aware of the outcome of this review following confirmation of the outcome from the CPS: https://www.expressandstar.com/news/crim....
However, we hold no information that can confirm whether this is the case".

This information conflicts with the information within the Express and Star article which states "Mr Thompson called for it to be reviewed and argued: “He was sentenced to 16 months in jail, suspended for two years, having been convicted of possessing indecent images of children and misconduct in a public office "."West Midlands Police officers discussed with the Crown Prosecution Service the possibility of appealing against the sentence. The matter was passed on to the Attorney General’s Office for a final decision and it has now been revealed the request has been rejected"."A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office said: “A referral under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme to the Court of Appeal can only be made if a sentence is not just lenient but unduly so, such that the sentencing judge made a gross error or imposed a sentence outside the range of sentences reasonably available in the circumstances of the offence. The CPS confirmed: “The Attorney General’s Office have decided not to refer the sentence of Lee Bartram to the Court of Appeal.”

Clarification 1.The Chief Constable advised the public that he was consulting with the CPS to arrange an appeal but it appears that neither did so, the appeal was reliant on members of the public,and yet the newspaper knows that the matter was forwarded to the AG`s Office and received a refusal so presumeably either the newspaper staff, or a newspaper contact,pursued the appeal process.Without releasing personal data please clarify if any part of the appeal was generated by a known media organisation or member of CPS staff on behalf of anyone.
Clarification 2.The newspaper states "it has now been revealed the request has been rejected" but it does not indicate how the revelation was made by the AG`s Office or to whom the revelation was made, and the newspaper printed a statement issued by an unnamed AG spokesperson.The newspaper also reveals the CPS were aware of the outcome but the CPS avoided mention of it on their website.I would appreciate knowing how the AG revelation and statement was conveyed to the local press and the CPS(and maybe the Chief Constable) when there seems to be no official press release anywhere.

Clarification 3.The Chief Constable advises that Lee Bartram was convicted of possessing indecent images of children and misconduct in a public office(MIPO) but the AG summary of appeals spreadsheet only lists the review reference LB at Wolverhampton Crown Court to be regarding MIPO. Please advise why only half of the convicted offences subject to review appear on the spreadsheet.

End of clarification requests.
Yours sincerely,

Dennis Fallon(BScHons)

AGO Correspondence, Attorney General's Office

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Fallon,

Thank you for your email dated 2 April 2019 asking for clarification of matters relating to our response to your FOI request.

Please see attached our further response.

Yours Sincerely,

FOI Officer

FOI Officer
E: [Attorney General's Office request email]
T: 020 7271 2492
5-8 The Sanctuary, London, SW1P 3JS

@attorneygeneral | gov.uk/ago

Making law and politics work together at the heart of the UK constitution

show quoted sections

Dear AGO Correspondence,
It is a shame that your responding officer did not identify themselves, they handled my request in a very professional manner,in terms of promptness and helpfulness, I hope the good service gets recognised.
You have negated the need for any appeal.
I appreciate that some issues are covered by restrictions, and I shall mark this request as closed,all information provided.
Yours sincerely,

Dennis Fallon(BScHons)

dennis fallon left an annotation ()

Another WP Police Officer jailed for obscene images in 2019, Jonathan McNeil

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/mi...

dennis fallon left an annotation ()

WM Police Sergeant Stephen Shaw in court, September 2019, for child grooming offences
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/cr...

J Roberts left an annotation ()

An inspection of vetting, misconduct, and misogyny in the police service
Published on: 2 November 2022

https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/...

'Following the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer, the then Home Secretary commissioned HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) under section 54(2B) of the Police Act 1996 to assess current vetting and counter-corruption capacity and capability in policing across England and Wales. This was to include forces’ ability to detect and deal with misogynistic and predatory behaviour.

We were asked to consider current vetting (and re-vetting), arrangements for transferees, whistleblowing arrangements, the work of counter-corruption units and, where relevant, wider Professional Standards '

IOPC

Statement in response to HMICFRS report into vetting, misconduct and misogyny in policing

https://policeconduct.gov.uk/news/statem...

The Guardian:

'If British police forces recruit abusers and criminals, good candidates are surely running a mile'

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The snapshot provided by a report into vetting failures is a dark one

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Criminals and sexual predators allowed into police, says report

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-63478011