Connect with us

Published

on

A retired senior police chief has told an inquiry the Royal Military Police’s initial investigation into alleged war crimes by UK Special Forces in Afghanistan was “slow to commence, sluggish in its progress, and never properly resourced”.

Alan Pughsley QPM, who has 39 years of experience in investigating serious and organised crimes, had been asked by the Independent Inquiry Relating to Afghanistan to produce a desktop review of two RMP investigations including Operation Northmoor which began in March 2014.

The inquiry is investigating claims made in a BBC Panorama programme that innocent Afghan civilians were executed by three out of four SAS squadrons between 2010 and 2013.

Evidence submitted to the inquiry suggests as many as 80 people were killed this way during a campaign of night raids.

The RMP launched Operation Northmoor on 31 March 2014, three years after the alleged war crimes.

Mr Pughsley, whose conclusions have not yet been finalised, said the most senior investigating officer (SIO) lacked experience for such a significant investigation.

He identified Operation Northmoor as a Category A investigation – the most serious of its kind but said it “did not progress at the pace, breadth or depth that is required for a Category A investigation”.

He said the investigation’s gold commanders kept few records, minutes were scant, and very few key witnesses were spoken to on time.

Guidance from independent advisors was often not heeded, he said, adding he had not seen sufficient evidence of proper handovers being made when multiple changes were made to investigating staff.

The inquiry heard there was a “confusing landscape,” where at one time four external advisers were offering differing guidelines to the RMP investigators.

A critical delay in starting the investigation, which Mr Pughsley said was not the fault of the RMP, denied early opportunities for gathering contemporaneous witness accounts.

The former police chief criticised the appointment of some investigators saying many lacked skills and experience, including an SIO (Senior Investigating Officer) who had only just attended the relevant training course and had never acted as the SIO in any, or any serious, investigation.

“There was consideration to whether or not a Home Office Police Force could or should’ve been utilised as lead investigators”, Mr Pughsley said before explaining that the Ministry of Defence chose the RMP instead to lead.

“I would’ve asked a Home Office police force to identify an incredibly experienced ISO,” he said.

The inquiry’s counsel Mr Oliver Glasgow KC put to Mr Pughsley: “We remind ourselves, this would have been an enormous challenge for even a highly experienced SIO from the Home Office Police Force.”

Mr Pughsley replied: “Absolutely right.”

Four years to set up resources

Operation Northmoor was described by the former police chief as “a complex and incredibly serious investigation that was fundamentally poorly resourced.”

The inquiry heard how it took two years to find premises and two more to get all the required resources in place.

“If you feel not supported whether as an investigator or one of the senior officers, I think you would feel very, very disappointed and I guess you would feel ‘how seriously are we taking this?’ Or are we just rubber-stamping the definition and not putting the resources into it?’ I hope that’s not the case,” Mr Pughsley said.

Later, the inquiry heard £7m was spent on the creation of a forensics data handling centre which was eventually blocked from being used.

Closure ‘inappropriate and premature’

Mr Pughsley said there were “clearly outstanding lines of enquiry that were not followed”, including a large number of potential witnesses in Afghanistan and data and digital evidence. He added the decision to close Operation Northmore was “inappropriate and premature”.

Operation Northmoor was set up in 2014 to examine allegations of executions by special forces, including those of children.

No charges were ever brought.

Read more:
Arrest warrant for Taliban duo
SAS had ‘golden pass’ in Afghanistan

Operation Cestro, which followed, referred three soldiers to the Service Prosecuting Authority but there were no prosecutions.

Law firm Leigh Day, representing the bereaved families at the inquiry, said its clients have always maintained Operation Northmoor was deeply flawed.

“Mr Pughsley… has raised potential failings at almost every stage of the investigation,” said Tessa Gregory, partner at Leigh Day.

“Perhaps most concerningly, he considers that the investigation was closed prematurely and inappropriately with major lines of enquiry still outstanding.

“Plainly the inquiry now needs to take further evidence from those who were involved with both running and overseeing Operation Northmoor to find out how this complex, multi-homicide military police investigation went so badly wrong.”

The inquiry continues.

Continue Reading

UK

How e-bike riders are doing double the speed limit – and many of them work for fast food delivery firms

Published

on

By

How e-bike riders are doing double the speed limit - and many of them work for fast food delivery firms

It’s lunchtime on Birmingham’s New Street. 

Close to its many restaurants, food delivery riders are congregating on their bikes.

The area is packed with shoppers and workers.

PC Paige Gartlan is approaching with other officers. She’s on the lookout for illegally modified e-bikes – and she knows she’ll find them here.

“You can physically tell by looking at the bike that it’s generally going to be illegal – the battery pack is taped on to the sides and generally the size of the motor that’s on the back wheel,” she explains.

Sky News has been invited on an operation by West Midlands Police to find these bikes and get them off the streets.

PC Gartlan has been hit by one before. She’s had to tackle a rider to the floor after he drove into her.

More on Birmingham

Within minutes, she’s spotted a suspicious-looking bike. The rider makes a run for it – followed by plain-clothed officers.

PC Gartlan tests the bike – it’s showing a top speed of 52km/hr on the speedometer – just over 30mph.

PC Paige Gartlan with a seized e-bike
Image:
PC Paige Gartlan with a seized e-bike

The speed limit for e-bikes in the UK is 15.5mph when using electric power for assistance.

I look up the street and another two riders have been detained. In less than an hour, officers have confiscated four bikes – all were being ridden by fast food delivery drivers.

The commotion is attracting a lot of attention.

“They are dangerous,” Sandra, who has just finished work, tells me.

Demoz had his bike taken by police
Image:
Demoz had his bike taken by police

She’s stood watching the riders being questioned. She says she’s had near-misses herself and is worried for the safety of the elderly and children.

It’s not just West Midlands police officers here – immigration officials are carrying out checks too. They’re involved in a nationwide operation, which has seen more than 7,000 arrests in the last year – a 50% increase on last year.

Matthew Foster, the immigration enforcement lead officer for the West Midlands, tells me they’ve already found one individual who has entered the UK unlawfully.

“He’s been detained,” he says, “to affect his removal from the UK.”

Further down the street, police are loading illegally modified bikes on to a van – they’re destined to be crushed. One of them had belonged to Demoz.

Read more:
Non-folding e-bikes banned on London Tube
E-bike and e-scooter crimes soar 730% in five years

A e-bike that was seized by police in West Midlands
Image:
An e-bike seized by West Midlands Police

He’s on his way home, carrying a big box with the logo of one of the main fast food delivery firms on it.

He tells me he used to have an illegal bike, but he thought his new one was legal.

“I make a mistake, I have to say sorry, I will do better for the future,” he says.

I get in touch with the big delivery firms; Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat.

Their representatives say they constantly remind workers of their safety obligations, and that they’re all working closely with the government to increase security checks on riders.

As he leaves, Demoz, now bike-free, tells me he’s thinking of changing his job.

Continue Reading

UK

I can’t help feel Harry’s team are trying to push the reset button – here’s why

Published

on

By

I can't help feel Harry's team are trying to push the reset button - here's why

Watching pictures of Prince Harry in Angola this week took me back to 2019, when we were there for his first visit following in Princess Diana’s footsteps.

The pictures on Wednesday looked so similar; his effortless interactions with people who face the daily dangers of landmines, and his obvious passion to help a charity that he cares deeply about.

Of course so much has happened in the six years since then, but with other headlines this week, I couldn’t help but feel like we could be looking at the beginning of a reset for Harry.

It started last Saturday night, as the story emerged of a meeting between the King’s communications secretary, Harry’s new London-based head of PR, and Harry’s most senior aide in America.

Three people you may not have heard of, but a meeting that was quickly described as “peace talks”.

File photo dated 12/12/18 of King Charles III, then Prince of Wales, and the Duke of Sussex during a discussion about violent youth crime at a forum held at Clarence House in London. The Duke of Sussex's relationship with the King remains "distant", with Harry's letters and calls to his father going unanswered, sources have said. Issue date: Tuesday April 15, 2025.
Image:
The King and Prince Harry in 2018. Pic: PA

The pictures of the get-together were being sold for thousands of pounds by the paper that ran them, just one indication of the global fascination about whether father and son may be on the road to reconciliation.

Neither side are willing to go there when you ask what exactly they talked about, although I suspect some of it was much more practical than about trying to mend this fractured relationship.

More on Prince Harry

Things like trying to avoid unnecessary negative stories, for example, the kind where Harry is accused of snubbing his father because they just happen to be doing jobs on the same day.

Prince Harry meets landmine victim Sandra Tigica in Angola in 2019, who Princess Diana met on her visit to Angola in 1997.
Image:
Prince Harry meets landmine victim Sandra Tigica in Angola in 2019, who Princess Diana met on her visit to Angola in 1997

It’s tricky for Harry’s camp to avoid such a situation when they don’t have sight of the King’s diary.

There’s also been the chatter about who may, or may not, have leaked the meeting.

There has been speculation around why they were out on a balcony, and who spotted the photographer in the park.

But whether it was a leak, or just a really good spot from a journalist or photographer, it’s not a bad thing for either side that we’re now all talking about whether father and son may be close to patching things up.

It did however raise other questions, about what it means for Prince William and his relationship with his brother.

So far there have been no indications of any meeting between William’s team and that of his brother.

The feelings of William also, you may think, a consideration for the King.

File photo dated 12/12/18 of King Charles III, then Prince of Wales, and the Duke of Sussex during a discussion about violent youth crime at a forum held at Clarence House in London. The Duke of Sussex's relationship with the King remains "distant", with Harry's letters and calls to his father going unanswered, sources have said. Issue date: Tuesday April 15, 2025.
Image:
The King and Prince Harry in 2018. Pic: PA

The unexpected headlines around Harry just kept coming, as on Tuesday he popped up in Angola.

His second visit there, this time with no press pack in tow.

So why the surprise visit?

Harry has worked with the Halo Trust for some time, and it’s clearly still a priority for them to highlight the dangers faced by those living with the potential dangers of landmines in Angola.

But it also feels like part of a push to get Harry out on more public engagements.

I’ve been told that since moving away from the UK he has continued to have regular contact with those charities with which he’s maintained ties, but being on the phone or a video call, isn’t the same as physically being there in person.

We saw something similar with his trip to China with Travalyst earlier this year, some may argue not the best choice of destination, but another example of wanting to get him physically out on visits to reinforce publicly those connections with causes that matter so much to him.

Read more:
Palace confirms date of Trump’s state visit

King’s state banquet for Macron in pictures

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Prince Harry follows in Diana’s footsteps

For some months now it’s felt like Meghan has regained an element of control over how she wants to be seen.

Just look at her social media accounts and the success of her “As Ever” brand.

Whether Harry for the first time would step on to the social media scene with his own public account we wait to see, although the idea of his own commercial project is more likely, with suggestions something may be in the pipeline, we wait and see what.

After a constant flow of stories in recent months relating to court cases or his ongoing row with his family, this week has felt different.

A lot has been made about Harry and Meghan establishing a new “court” and what lies behind their decision to hire new people, five years after they stepped away from royal life.

There are of course elements of the recent past that it is impossible to erase, even Harry, in his recent interview talked of how he would “love reconciliation with my family” but added, “Of course, some members of my family will never forgive me for writing a book. Of course, they will never forgive me for… lots of things.”

But it does feel like their new team are tentatively attempting to push the reset button; getting Harry out on more engagements just one way they hope to focus our minds back on to what he has always done best.

Continue Reading

UK

Environment secretary pledges to cut sewage pollution from water companies in half by 2030

Published

on

By

Environment secretary pledges to cut sewage pollution from water companies in half by 2030

The environment secretary has pledged to halve sewage pollution from water companies by 2030.

The target – which is compared to 2024 levels – is to be announced by Steve Reed on Sunday morning – when the Labour minister is also set to appear on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips.

The government says it is the first time ministers have set a clear target to reduce sewage pollution.

The target is part of the government’s efforts to respond to record sewage spills and rising water bills.

Ministers are also aiming to cut phosphorus – which causes harmful algae blooms – in half by 2028.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Why sewage outflows are discharging into rivers

Mr Reed said families had watched rivers, coastlines and lakes “suffer from record levels of pollution”.

“My pledge to you: the government will halve sewage pollution from water companies by the end of the decade,” he added.

The announcement comes ahead of the publication of the Independent Water Commission’s landmark review into the sector on Monday morning.

The commission was established by the UK and Welsh governments as part of their joint response to failures in the industry, but ministers have already said they’ll stop short of nationalising water companies.

On Friday, the Environment Agency published data which showed serious pollution incidents caused by water firms increased by 60% in England last year, compared with 2023.

Meanwhile, the watchdog has received a record £189m to support hundreds of enforcement officers for inspections and prosecutions.

“One of the largest infrastructure projects in England’s history will clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good,” Mr Reed said.

But the Conservatives have accused the Labour government of having so far “simply copied previous Conservative government policy”.

“Labour’s water plans must also include credible proposals to improve the water system’s resilience to droughts, without placing an additional burden on bill payers and taxpayers,” shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins added.

The Rivers Trust says sewage and wastewater discharges have taken place over the weekend, amid thunderstorms in parts of the UK.

Discharges take place to prevent the system from becoming overwhelmed, with storm overflows used to release extra wastewater and rainwater into rivers and seas.

Water company Southern Water said storm releases are part of the way sewage and drainage systems across the world protect homes, schools and hospitals from flooding.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed is due to appear on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips at 8.30am on Sky News.

Continue Reading

Trending