§ Lord Tebbitasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether press reports are true that a senior police officer instructed other police officers to release and not search a man suspected of carrying a gun who was later searched and arrested by other police officers who found him in possession of a loaded pistol. [HL3805]
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonNo. I understand from the Commissioner that the facts of the matter are that the police received information at 5 p.m. on 28 August about a man who was thought to be armed, and set up an operation to get a detailed description of him. The man was then pursued and arrested at around midnight once the description had been made available. At no point in this process did any senior police officer issue an instruction to any other officer ordering them to release an individual suspected of carrying a firearm.