§ 7. Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will now make a statement on why members of the Ministry of Defence police stopped one of the constituents of the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras while he was walking down Theobalds Road, WC1.
§ Mr. PattieThe hon. Member's constituent was seen late at night apparently loitering near a car park adjacent to a Ministry of Defence building, where cars have been damaged and there have been a series of thefts. Two Ministry of Defence police officers who were passing by at the time therefore quite reasonably considered it prudent to stop and question him. He was able to explain his actions and after a search of the area had shown that no damage had been done to vehicles in the car park, he was told that no further action would be taken and that he could continue on his way.
§ Mr. DobsonConservative Members may laugh, but 19-year-old young men who have grown up in my constituency do not expect to be stopped by two men smelling of drink, pushed against a wall, questioned, searched and not shown any authority for those actions. Do those people have the authority to search someone on the public highway? Why did that search turn out to be necessary when the event took place within 50 yards of Holborn police station?
§ Mr. PattieOn 19 December I wrote to the hon. Gentleman telling him that his letter to me drawing attention to that incident was being regarded and taken as an official complaint, and that the matter would be referred to the complaints board. That has been done. That board was chaired by a senior officer in the Ministry of Defence police. A report will soon be submitted to me, and I shall be writing to the hon. Gentleman in due course. In such a case it is important that Ministry of Defence police exercise maximum vigilance for the areas adjacent to the premises for which they are responsible. The hon. Gentleman's constituent might have helped his case had he not run away when he was first apprehended.