§ 63. Sir Dingle Footasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has considered the judgment in the Court of Appeal by Lord Justice Winn in the case of Regina v. Macro and Others; and whether he will institute an 143W inquiry into the circumstances in which material information was withheld from the trial court by the police.
§ Mr. CallaghanI have taken careful note of the judgment. As the investigation begun by the Chief Constable of Suffolk, which is not yet complete, may lead to criminal or disciplinary proceedings, it would not be proper for me to set up an inquiry.
This case does however raise general issues about the procedure that is being followed when the police have warning from an informant of an intended offence in which he might participate, and I have asked Her Majesty's Inspectors of Constabulary to make immediate inquiries into the practices being followed by police forces and regional crime squads and to report to me.