David Abbott's application for Judicial Review was refused in December by the Administrative Court in Manchester. Judge Robert Pelling stated that the case was "totally without merit". Obviously we take issue with that statement...
The news that his application had been refused came as no great surprise to David Abbott, as he has little or no faith in the integrity of the British Justice system to do what is simply the "Right Thing". Both the original argument by David and the ruling by the Judge are attached to this article so that you can download and read them for yourselves.
The first thing we notice about the order is that it refers to the "claimant seeking to challenge a decision of the IPCC giving the GMP permission to dispense with a complaint made against the Chief Constable of the GMP".
Errrr.. no Judge that is completely wrong. The dispensation was granted to the GMPA not GMP, as one has to make a complaint about a Chief Constable to the GMPA. So, either this is a typo or the Judge has not even bothered to read and understand the case properly. Not entirely unexpected in a Britain where "cover our backs" is the name of the game. The Judge declares that as the Chief Officer has delegated his responsibilities to suitably qualified people, then he has no further responsibilities in the matter. This is completely wrong but just take a moment and think about what this means for a Chief Officer and also for the Greater Manchester Police Authority (GMPA).
This ruling is telling us, that the Chief Officer of a police force can do no wrong unless he, or she, actually commits an offence themselves. It says to us that the Chief Officer cannot be held responsible for the actions of any officer in their force. This also renders the GMPA absolutely useless, as they would not be able to do anything about the actions of the Chief Officer or any officer in that force. You will see from the argument that David Abbott put forward, that not only is the Chief Officer responsible for all complaints against officers in a particular force, but that the Chief Officer is also ultimately and personally responsible for ensuring that legislation pertaining to to his/her force is upheld.
David Abbott's argument states, that Peter Fahy has breached legislation because he has failed over a period of 6 years to ensure that legislation was not breached in the department that he delegated his responsibilities to. The Judge is also wrong in his assertion, that as the Chief Officer has delegated his responsibilities under the Police Reform Act 2002 (PRA), it means that he is somehow not responsible for the actions of those he has delegated his powers to. Utter rubbish Your Honour and you really should know better. In all walks of life, delegation of powers does not mean absolution from responsibility.
Setting that aside, the mere fact that legislation was enacted by Parliament in which it is quite clear, that a Chief Officer is responsible for ensuring that legislation is not breached in their force, means that in this case Fahy has failed in that duty and that means that he can be accused of Misconduct in Public Office. This point is something the Judge seemed to have skipped over completely. In an earlier Judicial review application against the IPCC David Abbott was granted permission. This woke the IPCC up to admitting they had acted unlawfully in using the arguments they had used to refuse David Abbott's appeal against the non-recording of his complaint. Now, if the IPCC, using the arguments they had used were acting unlawfully, then it follows that the GMP and the GMPA who also used the same arguments to refuse David, had also acted unlawfully.
With me so far? Good. If members of the Professional Standards Department of GMP, (The "suitably qualified" people who Fahy had delegated his responsibilities in the area of police complaints to) had acted unlawfully then it follows that:
1. Legislation has been breached by those people in the PSD.
2. The complaints procedure was being deliberately subverted by the PSD to avoid investigation of one of their members.
Given that the two statement above are true then the Chief Officer Peter Fahy is liable for the legislation being breached and for the unlawful behaviour of those he has delegated his powers to. If we can see that then why cannot a Judge of some years experience? You tell me.