§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) why the statement he is expecting to make on the withdrawal of pensions now being paid to the convicted police officers in the Drury-Humphreys pornography trial will not be made to the House and before the House adjourns for the summer;
(2) whether now that the 13 high ranking police officers convicted at the Humphreys pornography trial have ceased to be policemen and are convicted criminals, he will give details of the pensions being received by these criminals from public funds.
§ Mr. Merlyn Rees:I have had under consideration the pension entitlements of 11 former members of the Metropolitan Police convicted of offences of corruption at the Central Criminal Court on 22nd December 1976, 13th May and 7th July 1977. Six officers had retired with pensions, one had retired with an entitlement to a deferred pension payable at age 60 and four were dismissed after conviction. All were sentenced to imprisonment for a term exceeding 12 months, and it is therefore open to me, in exercise of my powers as police authority for the Metropolitan Police District under Regulation 69 of the Police Pensions Regulations 1973, to decide that any pension award payable shall be forfeited in whole or in part and permanently or temporarily. It is further open to me to decide that a deferred pension shall not be granted to those former officers who were dismissed.
766W2. I have made the following decisions:
- Kenneth Ronald Drury
- George Edward Fen wick
- Alfred William Moody
- Rodney Lawrence Tilley
- Wallace Harold Virgo
Complete forfeiture of pension rights, including contingent awards to dependants.
Leslie Frank Alton
His pension will be forfeited, but, in view of Mrs. Alton's medical condition, payments will be made to her equivalent to the pension and children's allowances which would have been paid if she had been a widow.
- Peter John Fisher
- David Gareth Lee Hamer
- Alistair David Ingram
- David Cyril Jones
- Charles Edward O'Hanlon
Deferred pensions will not be paid. Aggregate pension contributions will be refunded.
3. In reaching my decisions I have taken into consideration the views of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. I have also taken account of paragraph 16 of Schedule 16 to the Social Security Act 1973, which restricts the power to forfeit occupational pensions. In my view these offences were liable to have led to a serious loss of confidence in the public service.