§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list, for each year since 1979, the numbers and ranks of Metropolitan police officers disciplined, demoted, suspended, dismissed from the force or required to resign following a successful civil action against the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis for a wrongful act by an officer.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw[pursuant to his reply, 24 February 1986, c. 416]: I understand that, in the years 1980 to 1985, only one case occurred in which Metropolitan police officers were subjected to disciplinary proceedings following a successful civil action against the Commissioner. In that case, which was in 1982, four officers were charged with disciplinary offences. One officer admitted the offence and was punished by a reduction in his rate of pay; the three others were found not guilty.
In most cases where a complainant pursues a civil action, he refuses to make a statement for the purpose of an investigation, which cannot then be completed. Where the civil action is successful, the case is reviewed to determine whether further investigation should be undertaken. Regard is had to the time that has elapsed since the incident on which the civil action was based, to the effect of the passage of time on the witnesses' ability to recall events and on the officer's ability to defend himself and to the difference in the standards of proof in civil proceedings and disciplinary proceedings.