NEWS > 23 April 2006

Article sourced from

ic Wales - United Kingdom
23 April 2006

This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.

Mole-hunt probe chief under fi

A SENIOR police investigator leading a controversial mole-hunt probe has been criticised for his handling of another case, we can reveal.

Michael Benbow, an officer at the Welsh branch of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), is under fire for his handling of an 'abuse of power' inquiry in Northern Ireland.

The former Dyfed Powys Police Superintendent made a series of errors after probing a row between a police investigator and a policewoman.

The IPCC last night defended Mr Benbow's integrity and professionalism, saying he had their full trust.

But a Welsh MP urged the IPCC to scrutinise Mr Benbow's work as he heads the examination of the controversial Peter Bolton mole-hunt case against North Wales Police.

Mr Benbow is leading an IPCC investigation into why former police clerk Mr Bolton was suspended by North Wales Police after being accused of leaking a confidential police report to the media.

Although the IPCC cleared Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom of any wrong doing, a probe is continuing into how the mole-hunt was managed by Detective Superintendent Chris Corcoran.

Mr Benbow is looking into both the decision to investigate the leak and the costly �400,000 inquiry that led to the prosecution of Mr Bolton, who was later cleared.

Although it is believed the IPCC has concluded its fact-finding mission, the police watchdog says nothing will be issued until later this year.

Last night, Clwyd West Tory MP David Jones urged the IPCC to put checks in place to ensure Mr Benbow's investigation is water-tight.

He spoke out after Mr Benbow, seconded from Wales, made a series of mistakes after being asked to probe a row between a police officer and Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman Stephen Bailie.

Mr Bailie was sacked for gross misconduct after being accused of harassing the female officer at a nightclub.

But Mr Bailie later won his unfair dismissal case at an employment tribunal after Mr Benbow made basic mistakes as part of his investigation.

As well as getting the date of the alleged row wrong, the tribunal found that Mr Benbow drew his own conclusions in a report, which the tribunal ruled inexplicably set out to attack Mr Bailie's credibility.

In its report, the tribunal added: "We consider it was included in order to attack the claimant's (Mr Bailie's) credibility."

In reference to logging the wrong date, the panel ruled that Mr Benbow simply accepted the evidence of the policewoman at face value in his first report, despite amending it in a second.

The panel ruled: "The tribunal would have expected Mr Benbow in such an investigation to investigate all the matters relevant to the complaint, including the date itself.

"All of the policewoman's witnesses agreed without any difficulty that they had been mistaken about the earlier date.

"Mr Benbow failed to appreciate, in the tribunal's view, that the change of date and how it came about raised clear issues as to the credibility of the policewoman and her witnesses and therefore of the incident itself. This he failed to do.

"This failure became of even greater importance and significance when it became clear when Mr Bailie did not accept he had been at the nightclub."

Last night, Mr Jones urged the IPCC to make checks so mistakes are not made in the Peter Bolton inquiry.

He said: "The contents of the tribunal's report are extremely worrying. They certainly give rise to serious questions as to the competence of the officer in dealing with that particular complaint.

"Given the importance of the current investigation, not only to Peter Bolton and his family but also to the public interest and people of North Wales, we will be seeking reassurances from the IPCC that careful scrutiny is given to any report made by this officer before any decision is made in connection with the substance of Mr Bolton's complaint."

Mr Bolton and Mr Benbow declined to comment.

EiP Comments:

* We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper or periodical. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and we will remove the article. The articles republished on this site are provided for the purposes of research , private study, criticism , review, and the reporting of current events' We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper , periodical or other works. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and where necessary we will remove the work concerned.

Other related articles:

Article sourced from

ic Wales - United Kingdom23 April 2006

Mole-hunt probe chief under fi

EiP Comments:

ic Wales - United Kingdom
23 April 2006