the times | Wednesday December 22 2021 17
News
Police Federation chief is suspended over sex claims
rate incident of sexual touching, under-
stood to relate to allegedly placing his
hand on another woman’s bottom. His
warrant card was removed and he was
advised that he was under criminal
investigation under section 3 of the
Sexual Offences Act 2003.
Two other women are believed to
have come forward to accuse him of
inappropriate comments including
sexual innuendo. The Independent
Office for Police Conduct is investi-
gating potential breaches of profession-
al standards.
The four alleged incidents are under-
stood to have occurred between Octo-
ber and this month. A friend said he was
“devastated” at the allegations.Apter announced his retirement in
October and was due to leave the feder-
ation in April. He received a standing
ovation at the bravery awards on
December 9.
He has previously spoken out against
misogyny and a “canteen culture” of
sexism following the rape and murder
of Sarah Everard by the Metropolitan
Police officer Wayne Couzens. He
wrote in The Sunday Times: “We must
demonstrate not only through our
words, but also through our actions,
that sexism and misogyny have abso-
lutely no place in the police service.”
Apter joined Hampshire police in
1992 and was elected as the national
chairman of the federation in 2018.Apter and Hampshire Constabulary
have made no comment on the claims.
A spokesman for the Independent
Office for Police Conduct said: “On Fri-
day, December 17, we received a referral
relating to a police constable from
Hampshire Constabulary and we have
started an independent investigation.
On Monday, December 20, the officer
was served with a notice of investi-gation for potential breaches of police
professional standards relating to four
separate alleged incidents. They were
also advised they are subject to crimi-
nal investigation, for sexual touching
contrary to section 3 of the Sexual
Offences Act 2003, in relation to two of
those alleged incidents.”
The Police Federation (PFEW)
tweeted: “We have been informed that
the national chair of the Police Federa-
tion has been suspended from duty by
Hampshire police whilst an investi-
gation is undertaken. As a result he is
also currently suspended from his
PFEW role.” It said that the national
vice-chairman, Ché Donald, would be
fulfilling all federation commitments.Four women have accused the head of
the Police Federation of inappropriate
behaviour including two alleged inci-
dents of sexual touching.
John Apter, chairman of the organi-
sation which represents 130,000 rank-
and-file officers in England and Wales,
was suspended on Monday and told he
was under criminal investigation.
He has been accused of inappropri-
ately touching a woman on the bottom
at an event linked to the annual Police
Bravery Awards, which were held in
central London this month.
He has also been accused of a sepa-
Fiona Hamilton Crime & Security Editor
John Simpson Crime Correspondent
Prosecutors in Edinburgh and Wash-
ington feared the case against the
Lockerbie bomber would collapse if
their concerns over the integrity of the
star witness were made public, declassi-
fied documents have revealed.
The papers show that senior Scottish
and US officials privately raised doubts
over his reliability and are set to trigger
fresh claims of a miscarriage of justice.
Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, a Libyan
intelligence officer, was sentenced to
27 years by a Scottish court sitting in the
Netherlands after being found guilty of
masterminding the 1988 atrocity in
which 270 people were killed.
The testimony of Tony Gauci, a Mal-
tese shopkeeper who claimed he sold
clothing — believed to have been
wrapped around the bomb — to a man
John Apter had
spoken out against
a “canteen culture”
of sexismDoubts over witness led to fears
Lockerbie trial would collapse
resembling al-Megrahi, proved pivotal
to securing his conviction in 2001. How-
ever, concerns were raised about the
“soundness of Gauci’s identification”
and the UK and US feared the case
would founder if this became known.
The new information, disclosed last
night, on the 33rd anniversary of the
terrorist attack, has renewed calls for an
appeal against al-Megrahi’s conviction.
Hans Koechler, who served as the
UN’s independent observer at his trial,
said: “I am even more convinced that a
miscarriage of justice occurred.”
A report of a meeting between Alan
Rodger, then Scotland’s lord advocate,
and Robert Mueller, US assistant attor-
ney-general, in Washington in 1992,
states: “If it became known we or the
US were sending people to check on the
soundness of Gauci’s identification that
would signal that we did not have a caseon which we could confidently go to
trial. The US Department of Justice
maintained that they could not go to
trial on the present identification.”
Gauci was the sole witness to link al-
Megrahi directly to the bombing of Pan
Am 103, over the town of Lockerbie.
In 2000 he told a panel of judges that
al-Megrahi “resembled a lot” a man
who bought clothes from his shop. But
in 1992 a letter from the Crown Office
to Mueller raised doubt. “Further in-
quiries concerning the identification
made by the shopkeeper Gauci could be
seized upon by those in Malta, Libya
and elsewhere hostile to the conclu-
sions of the investigation.” In 2007 it
emerged that the US had paid $2 mil-
lion to Gauci.
Robert Black, professor emeritus of
Scots law at Edinburgh University, who
masterminded the trial, said: “It is nowmore obvious than ever that the Meg-
rahi conviction is built on sand. An in-
dependent inquiry should be instituted
into the case by the Scottish govern-
ment, the UK government or both.”
The Crown Office said it would be in-
appropriate to comment further while
leave to appeal (by al-Megrahi’s son Ali)
is being considered by the UK Supreme
Court. Police Scotland have confirmed
that their investigation remains live.
It has emerged that officials were
warned about an independent investi-
gation by the bereaved. A 1992 Foreign
Office memo states: “We understand
that [the Labour MP] Bernie Grant is
arranging to take a group of Lockerbie
[relatives] to Malta... to ‘investigate’ the
Malta connection. Clearly such a visit
has great potential for trouble.”
Al-Megrahi was released from prison
in 2009 and died from cancer in 2012.Sex and the
City stars
back Mr Big
accusers
The Sex and the City actresses Sarah
Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and
Kristin Davis have backed the women
who have accused their fellow star
Chris Noth of sexual assault.
The actresses issued a joint
statement on social media saying that
they were saddened by the allegations
against Noth, who played Mr Big. “We
support the women who have come
forward and shared their painful expe-
riences,” they said. “We know it must be
a very difficult thing for them to do and
we commend them for it.”
Their comments came as Noth, 67,
was dropped from the CBS drama The
Equalizer after the allegations, which he
has denied.
The network’s decision is the latest
response to claims made by two
women, who do not know each other, to
The Hollywood Reporter. They sepa-
rately claimed that Noth’s reprisal of his
role in the Sex and the City spinoff show
And Just Like That... had stirred up
painful memories.
Using pseudonyms, Zoe, 40, alleged
that she was attacked by Noth in Los
Angeles in 2004, and Lily, 31, said that
she was assaulted in New York in 2015.
Zoe said she was 22 and working in an
entry-level job for a high-profile firm
where Noth and other celebrities regu-
larly had business when he assaulted
her in his apartment in Los Angeles.
Lily said she was 25 and working as a
waitress in the VIP section of a New
York nightclub when she met Noth. She
claims he assaulted her in his New York
apartment.
Noth, who has two children with his
wife, Tara Wilson, 39, has issued a state-
ment denying their allegations. “The
accusations against me made by indi-
viduals I met years, even decades, ago
are categorically false. These stories
could’ve been from 30 years ago or 30
days ago, no always means no — that is
a line I did not cross. The encounters
were consensual,” Noth told The Holly-
wood Reporter.
Several brands, including Peloton,
which had featured him in a controver-
sial ad before the allegations surfaced,
have begun to distance themselves
from the actor
However, the Los Angeles Police De-
partment said last week that it was not
yet investigating the allegations. Drake
Madison, for the LAPD, said: “There is
no record of a report being filed at this
time. Without a report there is no in-
vestigation.”Debbie WhiteMarc Horne
Singing scholars The choristers of St Paul’s Cathedral Choir in London prepare for evensong. The boys are educated under scholarships at the cathedral school
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE