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Yard set to drop leaks case against Tory MP
Paul Waugh, Deputy Political Editor15 Dec 2008
THE chances of the Damian Green affair ever coming to court receded today after fresh claims that both Scotland Yard and prosecutors have real doubts about the Tory MP's arrest.
The Metropolitan Police is considering ways of dropping the case in the new year amid tensions with the Crown Prosecution Service over the lack of cooperation between lawyers and police.
Acting Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson is understood to believe that Mr Green should not have been arrested in such a dramatic way but should have been invited voluntarily to attend a police station for questioning.
In a meeting with senior advisers last week, Sir Paul discussed the option of abandoning the case.
The Met is still focusing on emails between Mr Green and Home Office mole Christopher Galley to test the MP's claim that he never offered any inducements in return for leaked information.
Shadow immigration minister Mr Green was arrested last month "on suspicion of conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office and aiding and abetting, counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office". His House of Commons office was also searched without a warrant.
Police were called in by the Cabinet Office after Sir David Normington, Permanent Secretary at the Home Office, said the leaks could potentially jeopardise national security.
The CPS confirmed yesterday that Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer was told of Mr Green's imminent arrest only "shortly" before the MP's home and offices were raided. The CPS said pointedly that the case was "very much a police investigation".
Mr Starmer is understood to be privately aghast that the Met gave him just 10 minutes' prior notice of the arrest and that officers took the decision to arrest Mr Green and search his Commons office without taking proper legal advice.
Met insiders now say that the Yard expects the case to be dropped because of the bungled and possibly unlawful way in which his Commons office was searched. Either the police would drop the case or the CPS would withdraw it when Mr Green answers bail in February.
The Met's decision on whether to abandon the case will hinge on the results of an independent inquiry by Ian Johnston, chief constable of the British Transport Police.
The Johnston report on the case is due this week, but the Evening Standard revealed last week that the internal probe had unearthed worries that police may have acted disproportionately.
Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell last week hit out at the lack of communication between the Met and the CPS, pointing out that the "cash for peerages" affair had shown the need for close working on highly political cases.
Reader views (8)
It is no surprise that Labour are now back ahead in the polls
- Keith Price, Luton, England
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Just for now Keith Price, Just for now!
You wait until the real unemployment starts to bite in the new year, as it will!
- Geronimo, LONDON MIDDLESEX, 15/12/2008 18:44
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It is no surprise that Labour are now back ahead in the polls
- Keith Price, Luton, England, 15/12/2008 16:43
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It seems clear that the search of Mr Greens office was carried out by a deliberate avoidance of the proper procedures regarding the searching of a suspects property. The Met officers had already applied for, and were granted, several S8 search warrants in connection with this enquiry. Why did they not also apply for a search warrant to search Mr Green's House of Commons offices?. Simple really, any application for a search warrant must include details of the address to be searched, the object of the search and the grounds, including how the object of the search relates to the investigation. Clearly any Magistrate/Judge examining the sworn information contained within the warrant application would immediately recognise the constitutional implications of signing a warrant to search a member of Parliaments private offices located at the heart of the Palace of Westminster.
I suspect those in authority at the Met recognised the difficulty that would arise in trying to persuade a Judge/Magistrate to issue a warrant to search and seize copies of documents that clearly have absolutely nothing to do with national security. A bit of head scratching, followed by the application of the old Met police Ways and Means Act is the answer. A quick look through the PACE Act Codes of Practice, forget the need to liaise with the CPS on such an important issue, a quick off the record chat with the jolly old Serjeant at Arms and hey presto problem solved. Lets go!!.
- Pete, Croydon Uk, 15/12/2008 16:15
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Another case of 'fools rush in where angels fear to tread'? Go on and charge, now that you've taken it this far. We may as well get our moneys worth of 'it wasn't me guv' from the Tories.
- Dhanraj, Basildon Essex, 15/12/2008 15:01
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If you are above a certain level you can get away with anything in this country. It's disgraceful, but we unable to do anything about it. It the same for being below a certain level. Get away with anything. It's the mugs in middle who are the losers every time.
- Jilly, London, 15/12/2008 13:37
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If the Met and any other Police authorities have a zest for charging persons with the offence of;"...conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office and aiding and abetting, counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office" then perhaps they should start the hunt within Scotland Yard itself. The organisation 'Common Purpose' is already 'bedded in'to so many public and corporate bodies, it is quite alarming. It teaches its so-called 'Graduates' to "Lead Beyond Your Authority". What is that if not a clear incitement to behaviour which a court would rule 'Ultra Vires'. But then, it would not surprise anybody who takes an interest in these things to find the CPS and the legal profession riddled with Common Purpose as well. They are all strategically placed to assume regional control of the UK at the behest of the EU hierarchy, completely bypassing elected national government, in the 'post-democratic era'. None of this can happen fully until the Lisbon Treaty has been fully ratified by all 27 member states and the EU trap closes.
- David Moon, Seaford, UK, 15/12/2008 13:34
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Translation: the Met and CPS don't want to look any more stupid than they already do.
- Ralph, GB, 15/12/2008 13:16
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The civil service asked the police to investigate a leak at the home office, same as the SNP asking the police to investigate cash for peerages, When Lord levy was tipped by the police he was going to be arrested for questioning before hand it was after the police had seen an email saying 'do you want a 'k' or a big 'p'',Now I wouldn't dream of saying mr Green would have destroyed evidence if he hadnt' been informed of his arrest before hand but i can't see how the head of department for prosecutions could have been told any earlier, Surely the police have a job to do and surely mr. green encouraging mr galley to feed him sensitive leaks is illeagal even if theres no prosecution, didn't Lib Dem Chris Humme say that labour had illeagally sold peerages even after the case was dropped
- John P Reid, london, 15/12/2008 11:20
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