MISFEASANCE & MALFEASANCE

When an officer of the courts' omits to include evidence that he knows is relevant to a hearing, that is termed misfeasance in public office. Where an officer then tries to cover up his or her misfeasance (as did Ian Kay in the Stream Farm matter), that becomes malfeasance. The difference is that misfeasance is a civil wrong, whereas malfeasance is a criminal offence. The leading case precedent on malfeasance is: R. v Bowden 1995 Court of Appeal (98 1 WLR). In this case Bowden was a police officer who saw a crime in progress and walked away from it, calling in sick the next day to seek to cover up his wrongdoing.

If you are the victim of a wrongful prosecution or the police are refusing to investigate a crime you might think of taking your case to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), we would though advise that in serious cases of institutionalized corruption, that you should first lodge copy of your complaint with the Attorney General, Lord Chancellor and the Prime Minister of the day, David Cameron, who is responsible for running our administration under a mandate from the current Ruler of the United Kingdom. 

Katy Bourne was elected Crime Commissioner, taking office with an oath to serve the public interest. That is an oath that many are now questioning, where she appears to be serving Sussex Police instead of policing the organisation that has come under such flack for their blatant refusal to investigate so many complaints of malfeasance in public office.

ANY MASONS ON YOUR BEAT? - What of Sussex Police. They have been asked if a member of the public can view their Register of Interests, with an especial leaning toward Masons. The real question is: "Do they have such a register?" If they do, will it be accurate - and if so will it reveal the links between complainants where we know that others masons who are civilians have instigated or at least pushed for the prosecution of another civilian that they have fallen out with.

According to the independent research into police Masonry, Martin Short, author of the most detailed account of modern British freemasonry, 'Inside The Brotherhood,' estimates that 20% of London officers belong to Masonic lodges. He says there is cause for concern about this and in December, he gave evidence to the Select Committee inquiry of a case he had researched recently in Lancashire which, he told them, “demonstrates just how badly the administration of justice can go wrong when police, Crown Prosecution solicitors and private citizens are all in the same Masonic lodge.”

This story began one night in 1988 when two Leicester businessmen were taking a late-night drink in a hotel in Blackburn. A group of burly strangers in dinner jackets ordered them out of the bar. The Leicester men declined to go. The strangers then announced that they were policemen and proceeded to beat them up. They then called other police who arrested the two Leicester men and charged them with assaulting police officers. When the Leicester men were released on bail the next morning, they found that the hotel manager had seized their belongings until they agreed to pay for damage caused by the fight and that someone had let all the air out of their car tyres and removed their hub caps.

The Blackburn police and Crown prosecutors pursued the case to court, where the two Leicester men faced substantial jail sentences for allegedly assaulting policemen. But the case fell apart. The jury rejected all of the police evidence and found that the Leicester businessmen were not guilty of any offence at all. The judge signalled his own view by taking the unusual step of ordering that the defendants’ costs should be paid out of the public purse. The two men then sued for assault, wrongful arrest, malicious prosecution, conspiracy to injure and libel. In an out-of-court settlement, they were awarded £170,000, most of which was paid on behalf of the policemen by the Lancashire force.

Martin Short told the Select Committee that freemasonry was at the heart of this case. The two Leicester men had stumbled into the tail-end of a Masonic event, a dinner organised by the Victory lodge of Blackburn. This lodge, said Short, is dominated by police officers: the policemen who were involved in the original fight, the officer who subsequently investigated the incident, a senior official in the Crown Prosecution office which handled the case, and the manager of the hotel where the dinner took place were all members of the Victory lodge.

IPCC CONTACTS

Independent Police Complaints Commission
PO Box 473
Sale, M33 0BW 

Switchboard: 0300 020 0096
Email: enquiries@ipcc.gsi.gov.uk
Hard of hearing: 18001 0207 166 3000

Vicarage Lane, Hailsham, East Sussex, BN27 2AX T: 01323 443322

LINKS & REFERENCE

https://www.ipcc.gov.uk/

http://www.sussex.police.uk/

http://www.wealden.gov.uk/

Paul Whitehouse (1993-2001) Ken Jones (2001-2006) Joe Edwards (2006-2007) Martin Richards (2008-2014) Giles York (2014 >>)