§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether he will arrange to have a full investigation into all aspects of the police conduct as commented upon by the judge in the case of Mr. and Mrs. David White of Stoke Newington; whether he will arrange that such an investigation will be conducted by a person or organisation independent of the police service; and whether he will make a statement;
12Windictable offences and is given in the following table. Information for 1981 is not yet available and provision of that for earlier years would involve disproportionate costs.
(2) whether he is aware that at the High Court trial held on Friday 23 April under Mr. Justice Mars-Jones, the learned judge stated that claims that police officers had been assaulted to cover up their own wrongdoings and illegalities is not a new device and has happened before; whether he will cause an investigation to be made to ascertain how widespread this practice is and has been in the past; and what action can and should be taken to prevent the same happening in the future.
§ Mr. WhitelawI share the concern that has been expressed about the facts of this case as reported. It would be premature, however, for me to comment further for so long as the question of an appeal remains outstanding. None the less I can confirm that the matters are to be investigated by a senior officer and will be considered by the deputy commissioner, who will refer any issue to the Director of Public Prosecutions as necessary, and review force internal procedures for relating civil actions to the complaints investigation procedures even where no formal complaint has been made.