Hampshire's police chief should be banished as far away from policing as possible

Over the weekend, The Sunday Times revoltingly revealed Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary had prepared to release a statement just three days after Henry Nowak had been brutally murdered, in which they would have portrayed the entirely innocent 18-year-old as the aggressor.

This happened after Henry's attacker falsely claimed to the force he had been racially abused.

Let us just stop for a moment to think about this.

A British police service was planning to pump entirely false information about an innocent dead teenager into the public domain.

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Even if unintentional or mistaken, this is revolting and unforgivable beyond compare.

Apparently, the force was only stopped after concerns were raised by the family.

That the police, those whom we entrust with the most serious task of upholding the law, were considering publishing this information, despite holding ample evidence that showed Nowak's attacker was a liar, is a matter of the most serious importance.

As the man ultimately responsible for overseeing staff, Hampshire Police's pathetic Chief Constable, Alexis Boon, should already be banished as far away from policing as you can get.

But no, because as I write this, that man is still in office and drawing a base annual salary of nearly £200,000.

Trust me, there will be a whole heap of perks on top of that.

Any other cretin who was a part of that statement-making process that fortunately never happened should also be evicted from their jobs and never be allowed anywhere near the thin blue line.

Knowing how the establishment so often corruptly protects its own, I’m not holding my breath. Time moved on, and six months later, Vickrum Digwa stood trial for Henry’s murder.

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The court case attracted plenty of interest on social media, where the usual spread of truth, inaccuracies, theories and gossip was aired.

It is common practice for judges presiding over such cases to warn juries not to pay attention to media coverage, social media or websites.

The Sunday Times was also able to reveal that as the trial progressed, Hampshire Police were alarmed by "disinformation" circulating.

And in a move of idiotic proportions, they once again aimed to issue a statement to counter this.

The dim-witted nature of this strategy cannot be overstated.

The most junior of detectives should be able to tell you court cases must be left free to run their course, devoid of outside influence – hence the aforementioned warnings to jurors.

Yet here we have a police service that employs some 5,800 officers and staff, has a budget of more than £500millon, and not a single employee within it had the brains or the courage to say, "Stop, we cannot and must not do this" before the CPS put the brakes on this pathetic absurdity.

For that, the buck has to stop somewhere.

As we now know, the case progressed to its conclusion, with Digwa being convicted of Henry’s murder last month.Some capable detectives did their work well.

A standout piece of ingenuity was the covert bugging of a police van that transported Digwa – a journey during which the killer seriously compromised himself.

However, this case has thrown up much more about policing that is utterly unforgivable and has cut across pervasive practices that will demand huge change. That change must come soon.

If policing is to convince the public it has the will and the stomach for righting its many wrongs, and if the people of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are ever to get a police service that will serve them properly, then the dismissal of Boon would be a very good starting point.

Peter Bleksley is a former police officer and founding member of Scotland Yard's undercover unit.

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