Below are a set of (redacted) e-mails between Team Voice and the Wiltshire Constabulary. We have excluded a couple of the e-mails as we believe they add nothing to the debate.
Regular readers will be aware that Chief Constable Moore of the Wiltshire Constabulary was charged with investigating former Jersey Chief Police Officer Graham Power QPM and his handling of the Haute de la Garenne Child Abuse Investigation (Operation Rectangle).
Chief Constable Moore’s investigation, into the investigation, took longer than the investigation. It missed just about every deadline set and went way over budget, indeed Chief Constable Moore’s investigation costs will be the subject of an upcoming Blog!
As is so often the case the Wiltshire Report (Operation Haven) raises more questions than answers. And as is so often the case, the answers are not forthcoming. In these cash strapped times Did the Wiltshire Constabulary seize the opportunity to make themselves a nice little earner with a report they knew was never going to be used as part of a disciplinary process? Has our Home Affairs Minister, Senator Ian Le Marquand “prejudiced relations between the United Kingdom and Jersey” by duping Wiltshire into believing their Report was going to be used as part of a disciplinary hearing, only to go on and release parts of it to the “accredited” media in an attempt to discredit former CPO Graham Power QPM? Why won't Cheif Constable Moore either condem or condone the actions of our Home Affairs Minister?
Readers will have to make up their own minds to these questions and the many more that arise from the communications below, the motives of the Wiltshire Constabulary, and those of our Home Affairs Minister.
From: voiceforchildren voiceforchildren
Sent: 04 August 2010 21:13
To: Coppen, Lucy
Subject: Operation Haven.
Dear Chief Constable Moore.
(paragraph redacted)
We are contacting you in the hope that you will help us decifer some of the confusion that surrounds your Report ("Operation Haven.") We are in possession of the "redacted" Operation Haven that was released to our media some weeks ago.
We have a number of questions we hope you will be able to help us with in order that we can publish factual material to our readers, these are.
1). What date was Wiltshire Constabulary (yourself) made aware that all disciplinary proceedings against Graham Power QPM were dropped?
2). How were you made aware the proceedings had been dropped and who made you aware?
3.) What is the stance of Wiltshire (yourself) on knowing all disciplinary proceedings were dropped and your Report (Operation Haven) was subsequently released to all Jersey "accredited" media?
The reason (or part of) we are asking these questions is because on the top of page 2 of 383 of the "redacted" version given to the media it states "highly confidential - personal information". Also on the same page it lays out the obligation to confidentiality which reads, to the lay person, that our Home Affairs Minister might actually have breached this confidentiality clause.
Yours sincerely.
(names redacted)
From Hills, Michael
to voiceforchildren@googlemail.com
date Mon, Aug 23, 2010 at 12:59 PM
subject 1761 Operation Haven.
mailed-by wiltshire.pnn.police.uk
Dear (names redacted)
Further to my previous email below, I can now report that Chief Constable Brian Moore has read your email.
The Chief Constable responds to the points raised in your email:
With reference to your questions 1 and 2 - Chief Constable Moore became aware through media reports and had no prior or separate briefing, albeit he was not expecting any such facility.
With reference to question 3 - the outcome of the investigation and the formal release of the material to the media is a matter for the states of Jersey.
Chief Constable Moore has no further comment to add and thanks your for your enquiry.
Yours Sincerely
Michael Hills
Chief Constable's Office
from voiceforchildren voiceforchildren
to "Hills, Michael"
date Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 8:15 PM
subject Re: 1761 Operation Haven.
mailed-by googlemail.com
Dear Mr. Hills.
Thank you for your reply. We are sure you can appreciate the gravity of what has occurred in respect of former CPO Graham Power QPM and our Government's handling of the case. It's repercussions could be far reaching and affects every person in Jersey.
We only seek to find the truth of how a Report, that was meant for disciplinary purposes, was only ever used to give the media the prosecution case against our most Senior Police Officer.
Could you please answer for us a further few questions in order to help us, and our readers/viewers make some sense of all this?
1. If you were aware, that your investigation into Operation Rectangle was never going to be used for disciplinary purposes, would you have started it in the first place?
2. Were you surprised to learn that all disciplinary proceedings against Graham Power QPM had been dropped?
3. By releasing parts of Operation Haven are we correct in believing that Ian Le Marquand has breached its confidentiality clauses as there never was an “outcome” of any disciplinary hearings? as the disciplinary hearings did not exist.
4. When did you realise (the date) that there was not going to be any disciplinary process?
5. Given the highly politicised nature of these issues what steps if any did you take in an attempt to prevent your investigation being used as a political tool?
We would like to point you to our latest Blog posting that explains why we believe our Home Affairs Minister has either breached the confidentiality agreement or mis-applied it. http://voiceforchildren.blogspot.com/2010/08/outcome-precedent-has-been-set.html
We look forward to your reply.
Kind Regards Team Voice.
from Hills, Michael
to voiceforchildren voiceforchildren
date Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 5:29 PM
subject 1761 Operation Haven.
mailed-by wiltshire.pnn.police.uk
Dear Team Voice
Chief Constable Brian Moore has read the email that you sent me.
His response to the email is as follows:
'It is inappropriate for me to comment further and I will not be doing so. I appreciate the frustrations expressed but will not be answering further emails or correspondence on this subject'
Regards
Michael Hills
Chief Constable's Office
from voiceforchildren voiceforchildren
to "Hills, Michael"
date Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 2:11 PM
subject Re: 1761 Operation Haven.
mailed-by googlemail.com
Dear Mr Hills/chief Constable Moore.
We are sorry but we must strongly disagree with Chief Constable Moore's first paragraph (below). We would argue that the Wiltshire Police have spent in excess of £1million of Jersey Tax Payers money and are therefore accountable, in part, to the Jersey Tax Payer.
We believe that the questions we have asked are, not only valid, but they are perfectly reasonable considering the amount of money that was spent on the "Haven" Investigation(s). We would strongly urge you to reconsider your position.
Your silence only creates more questions, such as - why after being given the opportunity do you not support the actions of our Home Affairs Minister, are you trying to distance yourself from them? Chief Constable Moore has repeatedly been given the chance to endorse what has happened and he has repeatedly declined the opportunity.
We humbly ask that Chief Constable Moore re-visits our "reasonable" and "valid" questions set out below and provides us with full and frank answers, or at the very least, a full, frank and legitimate reason why he shouldn't answer them.
Kind Regards.
Team Voice.
from voiceforchildren voiceforchildren
to "Hills, Michael"
date Tue, Sep 7, 2010 at 2:22 PM
subject Re: 1761 Operation Haven.
mailed-by googlemail.com
Dear Mr Hills/Chief Constable Moore.
We understand you might be busy but thought we would just send you a gentle reminder that we, and the Jersey Tax Payer, are still waiting for the answers to our questions.
Hope you are able to get back to us soon.
Kind Regards.
Team Voice.
We have had no further reply and quite honestly don't expect one. Although it is interseting to learn from Chief Constable Moore "I appreciate the frustrations expressed"
Submitted by Team Voice.