05-07-2013, 07:31 AM
Norman Bettison 'had smear file' on anti-racist campaigner
Former police chief allegedly co-ordinated campaign against man preparing to back Stephen Lawrence family's campaign
A man decorated for his community work has been officially informed that he was the potential victim of an alleged smear campaign orchestrated by the former police chief Sir Norman Bettison, as he prepared to publicly back the Stephen Lawrence family's campaign for racial justice.
Mohammed Amran told the Guardian he was going to denounce police racism in the West Yorkshire force where Bettison was a senior officer when dossiers are alleged to have been compiled on him.
Bettison, who went on to become the chief constable of the West Yorkshire police, has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission over the claims by his own former colleagues. Bettison stood down from his role as one of Britain's most senior officers earlier this years over disputed claims over his role in a police cover-up of the Hillsborough football stadium disaster.
On Thursday night, Amran, 37, a former top official at the Commission for Racial Equality said he had been warned the alleged smear campaign may have targeted him.
He told the Guardian that officials at the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) covering West Yorkshire told him on Wednesday of the claims.
Amran says the officials told him dossiers about him were found at West Yorkshire police, allegedly prepared as he got ready to testify in 1998 at the Macpherson inquiry into the failings by police in the hunt for Lawrence's killers, which also examined the records of officers across the country on race.
Amran, who became one of the youngest ever commissioners of the former official race watchdog, the CRE, said: "I am shocked that someone who was a CRE commissioner can be treated in this way.
"If what the PCC is saying is true, it is a breach of Sir Norman's position."
The PCC for West Yorkshire and the force itself say documents raise serious concerns that a witness due to appear before Macpherson's hearing in Bradford was targeted.
Amran said his evidence concerned "police racism, stop and search and the treatment of young people by West Yorkshire police."
West Yorkshire police and crime commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson said there were "concerns about the motivation for the report" and that three documents recently discovered "raise significant concerns over the role of Sir Norman Bettison at the time he was assistant chief constable of West Yorkshire police in 1998 in commissioning a report to be prepared in the respect of a key witness appearing before the Macpherson inquiry."
It is believed that West Yorkshire special branch officers may have been involved.
Amran said he had gone on to work alongside Bettison, working as a community advisor for the national policing body Centrex, which Bettison led, and which later became the National Policing Improvement Agency.
Amran said: "He was always polite and pleasant to me. If I see the documents I may blow my top. I don't know how personal they are."
The claims follow revelations in the Guardian that an undercover Metropolitan police officer was asked to find dirt on the Lawrence family and the key witness in the case, Duwayne Brooks.
Brooks, who was with Stephen Lawrence on the night he was murdered, will meet Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, on Friday to discuss allegations of police misconduct, his solicitor said. The meeting was set up after Peter Francis, a former undercover police officer, alleged that he had been told to find information to smear the Lawrence family after the killing.
​http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk-news/2013/j...CMP=twt_fd
Former police chief allegedly co-ordinated campaign against man preparing to back Stephen Lawrence family's campaign
- Vikram Dodd
- The Guardian, Friday 5 July 2013
A man decorated for his community work has been officially informed that he was the potential victim of an alleged smear campaign orchestrated by the former police chief Sir Norman Bettison, as he prepared to publicly back the Stephen Lawrence family's campaign for racial justice.
Mohammed Amran told the Guardian he was going to denounce police racism in the West Yorkshire force where Bettison was a senior officer when dossiers are alleged to have been compiled on him.
Bettison, who went on to become the chief constable of the West Yorkshire police, has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission over the claims by his own former colleagues. Bettison stood down from his role as one of Britain's most senior officers earlier this years over disputed claims over his role in a police cover-up of the Hillsborough football stadium disaster.
On Thursday night, Amran, 37, a former top official at the Commission for Racial Equality said he had been warned the alleged smear campaign may have targeted him.
He told the Guardian that officials at the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) covering West Yorkshire told him on Wednesday of the claims.
Amran says the officials told him dossiers about him were found at West Yorkshire police, allegedly prepared as he got ready to testify in 1998 at the Macpherson inquiry into the failings by police in the hunt for Lawrence's killers, which also examined the records of officers across the country on race.
Amran, who became one of the youngest ever commissioners of the former official race watchdog, the CRE, said: "I am shocked that someone who was a CRE commissioner can be treated in this way.
"If what the PCC is saying is true, it is a breach of Sir Norman's position."
The PCC for West Yorkshire and the force itself say documents raise serious concerns that a witness due to appear before Macpherson's hearing in Bradford was targeted.
Amran said his evidence concerned "police racism, stop and search and the treatment of young people by West Yorkshire police."
West Yorkshire police and crime commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson said there were "concerns about the motivation for the report" and that three documents recently discovered "raise significant concerns over the role of Sir Norman Bettison at the time he was assistant chief constable of West Yorkshire police in 1998 in commissioning a report to be prepared in the respect of a key witness appearing before the Macpherson inquiry."
It is believed that West Yorkshire special branch officers may have been involved.
Amran said he had gone on to work alongside Bettison, working as a community advisor for the national policing body Centrex, which Bettison led, and which later became the National Policing Improvement Agency.
Amran said: "He was always polite and pleasant to me. If I see the documents I may blow my top. I don't know how personal they are."
The claims follow revelations in the Guardian that an undercover Metropolitan police officer was asked to find dirt on the Lawrence family and the key witness in the case, Duwayne Brooks.
Brooks, who was with Stephen Lawrence on the night he was murdered, will meet Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, on Friday to discuss allegations of police misconduct, his solicitor said. The meeting was set up after Peter Francis, a former undercover police officer, alleged that he had been told to find information to smear the Lawrence family after the killing.
​http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk-news/2013/j...CMP=twt_fd
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
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"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.