Teenage witness gets £600,000 compensation after bungling British police reveal his name to violent gang he had informed on

The British cops really are disgusting. They seem to sleepwalk through their job

A boy who witnessed a vicious gang attack has been awarded a record sum after police inadvertently leaked his name to the thugs he had testified against. The 16-year-old went through ‘unbearable pain’ when his personal details were sent to the gang members by the Crown Prosecution Service and Metropolitan Police.

They have since been forced to pay the youth and his family £550,000 for the ‘catastrophic’ blunder and another £50,000 towards their legal costs, it emerged. The payout, thought to be the biggest of its kind, is to compensate for psychiatric injuries, lost earnings and relocation costs incurred under a witness protection programme.

The boy agreed to give a statement anonymously after witnessing the attack in 2005. But the CPS and Met mistakenly sent his name and address to both the gang and their defence lawyers.

In a further twist, a separate failure meant the gang were never convicted as the case collapsed at trial – so the teenager gave evidence in vain.

The witness, now aged 22, said he would ‘look away’ rather than help the police if he ever saw another crime because the mistake ‘robbed him of his youth’.

In a statement, the family added: ‘Our whole lives were turned upside down and our trust in the entire legal system was betrayed.’

A CPS spokesman said: 'This payment relates to a case dating from four years ago where information was passed to the defence which led to concerns about the safety of a young witness and their family, so that they had to be provided with protective measures.

'The CPS recognised that its actions in this case fell below our accepted standard and, together with the Metropolitan Police Service, reached an agreed settlement of damages and an apology with the parties concerned. 'We regret that on this occasion we did not provide the support which is normally available to witnesses.'

A Met spokesman added: 'The Metropolitan Police Service aims to always provide victims and witnesses with the support they require. 'When we get it wrong we acknowledge it with those involved and if appropriate provide compensation.'

It is unclear precisely how the breach of procedure occurred.

However, the family's lawyer confirmed a series of 'individual and systemic failings' led to police giving the information to gang members directly.

It was not the result of an error made by a third party, such as the identity mistakenly being revealed by a defence lawyer.

Solicitors Bhatt Murphy, who acted for the family, issued a statement from them in which they said they had suffered three years of 'unbearable pain'.

It read: 'In 2005 when this incident occurred we were a hard working, law-abiding family with children. 'Despite our best intentions to help the police by doing what we thought was the right thing to help secure convictions against a violent gang, we were let down to the degree that our whole lives were turned upside down and our trust in the entire legal system was betrayed.

'We were left with no other option than to leave our homes, careers, families, friends and in our son's case his education, without even being able to say goodbye. 'The children were uprooted from their schools and whisked away without an opportunity to explain: the trauma and upset this caused is beyond words.

'The unbelievable mistake by the CPS and police not only destroyed our lives but ultimately caused the complete failure of the prosecution case against the gang members even though we remained willing to fully cooperate from within witness protection.

'When the error was realised, the police advised that the family had no alternative but to go into witness protection' "We endured three years of of unbearable pain but the prosecution was abandoned because the of these failures. 'Starting our lives again has been hard to say the least. The compensation will go some way to securing a suitable environment for our family.

The memories will never leave us but, as time goes by, it does become easier.'

Fiona Murphy, the family's lawyer, said a series of 'individual and systemic failings' had resulted in the boy's name and address being revealed to the criminal gang. She told BBC Radio 4: 'The family began to experience a campaign of harassment and intimidation and when they brought their concerns to the attention of the Metropolitan Police it was denied that their identities had been revealed.

'But eventually, when the error was realised the police advised that the family had no alternative but to go into witness protection.' Ms Murphy also said the 'breach of procedure' happened in the very early stages of the investigation.

Original report here




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