Operation Jackpot

EDM number 291 in 1992-93, proposed by Brian Sedgemore on 19/06/1992.

That this House notes that Detective Superintendent Russell from the Metropolitan Police is conducting an investigation under the code name Operation Jackpot into allegations that some police officers from Stoke Newington Police Station have been involved in organised crime including running a protection racket, drug dealing, planting drugs on individuals and perjury; notes that in an unprecedented move 12 firms of solicitors and 19 barristers have written to the Home Secretary expressing concern about the nature of the inquiry; further notes that 16 firms of solicitors and 36 barristers from the Lawyers' Liaison Group have written to the Director of Public Prosecutions expressing concern about the nature of the inquiry; further notes that 16 firms of solicitors and 36 barristers from the Lawyers' Liaison Group have written to the Director of Public Prosecutions expressing concern that justice for defendants and those seeking to appeal against conviction is being hampered by the failure of the Crown Prosecution Service to disclose the extent of the investigation and the findings of the inquiry in as far as they affect the character and credibility of police witnesses; calls on the Home Secretary, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that all the findings should be disclosed to defence solicitors; further calls on the inquiry to be speeded up; hopes that the Director of Public Prosecutions will not sit on Detective Superintendent Russell's report; and believes that the interest of justice calls for a more wide-ranging inquiry to be carried out by an independent police force.

This motion has been signed by a total of 25 MPs.