Another Freemason police officer has been captured on tape assaulting a
young black teenager just hours after a colleague of his was recorded
abusing another man with a serious racial slur.
Brother PC Joe Harrington has been placed on restricted duties after he
was allegedly seen kicking the 15-year-old to the ground and kneeing
him, in the custody area of an east London police station. Part of the
incident was recorded on CCTV.
An investigation into the alleged assault on the 15-year-old concluded
last week and a report, understood to recommend disciplinary action, was
submitted to the Metropolitan police on Monday 02.04.2012. The force
will now consider what action if any to take against Brother Harrington.
Hours earlier, Brother Harrington was present when another Freemason,
Brother PC Alex MacFarlane, was recorded on a mobile phone telling Mauro
Demetrio, 21, a black man from Beckton in east London, that "the problem
with you is you will always be a nigger". Growing controversy over the
two incidents, which occurred shortly after the riots last summer, have
triggered urgent reviews by the Crown Prosecution Service into initial
legal advice that neither officer should be charged.
The audio recording of the racist abuse caused a public outcry after it
was released on Friday. It has unnerved senior officers at Scotland
Yard, who are concerned about the fallout for the reputation of a
Masonic police force seeking to show it has recovered from recent
controversies.
Brother Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metropolitan police commissioner, is
understood to have told colleagues he was appalled when he listened to
the recording.
The recording was made by Demetrio, who alleges he was strangled and
racially abused after being arrested and placed in the back of a police
van on 11 August 2011, the day after rioting in London.
The mobile phone recording captured one Freemason saying that he
strangled him because he was "a cunt". Moments later, Brother MacFarlane
abuses Demetrio and adds: "You'll always have black skin colour".
Brother Harrington was not heard making any racist remarks on the
recording, but was one of three officers initially investigated over the
alleged mistreatment of Demetrio. Brother MacFarlane, who can also be
heard telling Demetrio "don't hide behind your black skin", has been
suspended on full pay plus lodge fees.
A CPS lawyer was asked to review the case in January 2012, after an
Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation concluded
that the two Freemason police officers - Brother MacFarlane and Brother
Harrington - may have been caught committing criminal offences.
Brother Carl Kelvin, from the CPS police complaints department,
initially decided no charges should be brought against any of his
brother Freemasons in the Metropolitan Police.
On Thursday, 29.03.2012, after being threatened with legal action by
Demetrio, the CPS said it would ask a more senior Freemason to
reconsider the initial decision, which was partly based on a "genuine"
belief that no alarm or distress was caused by the racist abuse.
Demetrio has spoken about how the racist abuse he suffered has left him
feeling traumatised. Shortly after being driven to Forest Gate police
station, he told police in the custody suite that he had been abused by
police officers and urged them to listen to his mobile phone.
It was while he in the custody area that Demetrio witnessed Brother
Harrington assault the 15-year-old, who was handcuffed. Demetrio told
investigators he saw Brother Harrington kick the young teenager in the
back of the leg and, once he was on the floor, knee him in the back.
He said the alleged assault made an "echoing" sound and the teenager
cried out: "I am on the floor now - you can't do anything to me. I am
handcuffed and I am on the floor."
Demetrio said that medical staff were called to the scene after the
teenager, whose identity is not known, began making "strange" breathing
noises for several minutes.
After Demetrio reported what he had seen, a separate IPCC investigation
was launched into the case of the 15-year-old and CCTV of the incident
was obtained - although the quality of the footage has been described as
poor.
At an early stage of the investigation, IPCC investigators sought advice
from the CPS to establish whether Brother Harrington had been caught
committing a criminal offence.
"The CPS advised that on this occasion there was not a realistic
prospect of a conviction in relation to the criminal offence of common
assault," said IPCC Commissioner Brother Mike Franklin.
The CPS lawyer who gave that advice was the same lawyer whose decision
not to bring charges against officers recorded racially abusing Demetrio
is now under review.
"This is clearly an important matter and I have this evening directed
that urgent inquiries be made about any advice that may have been
given," said Grace Ononiwu, deputy chief crown prosecutor for CPS
London. "Once the full facts are known I intend to issue a further
statement."
Keith Vaz MP, chair of the Commons home affairs select committee, wrote
to the director of public prosecutions on Monday 02.04.2012 asking for
detailed information about the decision-making process in the Demetrio
case.
"You have on a number of occasions made it very clear that the CPS would
act swiftly to resolve cases when it is in the public interest to do
so," Vaz wrote to Keir Starmer. "I consider that this is such a case."
A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said, "there is no
evidence that the CPS is dominated by Freemasonry."
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