18 1GM Friday August 28 2020 | the times
News
A police whistleblower whose claims of
corruption led to the second Stephen
Lawrence inquiry is being investigated
for perjury, The Times can reveal.
Neil Putnam, who repeatedly
warned that the investigation into the
teenager’s murder in 1993 was tainted,
has been interviewed by the National
Crime Agency (NCA). It is understood
to be preparing a report for considera-
tion by prosecutors.
Mr Putnam, a corrupt detective
turned supergrass, claimed that a
former police officer in the original
was never shared with the inquiry.
When Mr Putnam gave a television in-
terview in 2006, the Met and the police
watchdog conducted separate investi-
gations, which concluded there was no
evidence to support his claim.
However, the allegation was given
weight in 2012 when leaked Met docu-
ments revealed the force had similarIN THE TIMES TOMORROW
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MAIN PAPERCOMMENT
GILES COREN
Forget full stops — let’s cancel all
punctuation
MAIN PAPERNotorious
case takes
new twist
Analysis
T
he decision
to investigate
Neil Putnam,
the Stephen
Lawrence
whistleblower, is the
latest development in
a murder case beset
by allegations of
racism, cover-up and
corruption (Fiona
Hamilton writes).
Few criminal
inquiries have been so
heavily scrutinised yet
so many questions
remain about the
1993 unprovoked
murder of the black
teenager at a bus stop
in southeast London.
While the
Metropolitan Police,
which bungled its
original investigation,
secured convictionsagainst David Norris
and Gary Dobson in
2012, three remaining
suspects have thus far
escaped justice.
Earlier this month
the force said it had
exhausted all leads
and the inquiry was
no longer active,
although any new
information would be
reviewed. Stephen’s
mother, Baroness
Lawrence of
Clarendon, and his
father, Neville,
expressed their
disappointment.
They have
campaigned tirelessly
for justice since the
first Met investigation
was hampered by
incompetence, racism
and claims of police
corruption. While the
names of the suspects
were given to police
in various tip-offs,
their arrests were
delayed. The searches
of their homes were
flawed. Only one
officer was disciplined
for the failures.Years later the
Lawrences were
astonished to learn
that their campaign
for justice had been
spied on by police.
Theresa May, then the
home secretary, set
up a public inquiry
into undercover
policing after the
“shocking” evidence
that the campaign
had been infiltrated
by a police mole.
This inquiry, which
will not conclude until
at least 2023, has in
turn been hampered
by a mass shredding
operation at the Met.
Documents relating
to intelligence on
officers suspected of
corruption were
destroyed in 2003.
The police
establishment is
clearly keen to close
the book on this
scandal. In doing so it
should be careful
about turning on
those who raised the
corruption allegations
in the first place.Lawrence supergrass investigated for perjury
Lawrence investigation had admitted
to being paid by Clifford Norris, the
father of David Norris, a key suspect.
Scotland Yard bungled its first in-
vestigation into the unprovoked racist
murder by white youths at a bus stop,
but David Norris was convicted in 2012
alongside Gary Dobson.
Mr Putnam said that he mentioned
the claims in 1998 to anti-corruption
detectives who were secretly debriefing
him during the Macpherson inquiry in-
to the murder. The report found sys-
temic failures in the investigation and
branded the Metropolitan Police “insti-
tutionally racist”.
The content of Mr Putnam’s debriefconcerns about the same officer, John
Davidson, a former detective sergeant.
A senior member of the Crown Pros-
ecution Service (CPS) also confirmed
that an anti-corruption officer told him
in 1998 that Mr Putnam had made ex-
plosive claims about Mr Davidson.
The revelations led to an inquiry into
whether corruption had contaminated
the murder case.
Mark Ellison, QC, concluded in 2014
that there were “reasonable grounds”
to suspect that Mr Davidson had a cor-
rupt relationship with Clifford Norris.
His report found that the Met had in-
telligence which suggested that Mr Da-
vidson might be corrupt but did not
place all that material before the Mac-
pherson inquiry. Mr Putnam’s claim
that Mr Davidson had revealed his mis-
conduct to him was not properly inves-
tigated, the report said.
The NCA was asked to investigate
under the direction of the Independent
Office for Police Conduct.
In July 2019, the IOPC announced
that Mr Davidson would face no fur-
ther action and that there was “no indi-
cation of corruption on the part of Mr
Davidson relating to the original Ste-phen Lawrence murder investigation”.
In a letter to interested parties last
month the NCA said a “separate
matter” had been identified and it was
carrying out a criminal investigation of
Mr Putnam.
Sources close to Mr Putnam said the
police establishment was turning on
the whistleblower to draw a line under
the Lawrence scandal. The Ellison re-
view found there was mass shredding of
documents at the Met and the force
could not find “material evidence” of
corruption, which will make any prose-
cution difficult, the sources said.
Mr Putnam turned against detective
colleagues after his arrest in 1998 dur-
ing a corruption operation. His testi-
mony helped to jail five detectives for
drug corruption. Two were acquitted
on a retrial in 2011.
Mr Putnam was called as a hostile
witness and confirmed under oath for
the first time that he had told anti-
corruption detectives about Mr David-
son’s alleged confession but it was
covered up.
The NCA said it would “not be appro-
priate at this stage to discuss who has
been interviewed and in what capacity”.Michael Gillard
Fiona Hamilton Crime Editor
Neil Putnam made
claims of police
corruption in 1998