Lawyers have questioned the Metropolitan Police’s request for some details to be left out of the report into Downing Street parties – with one describing it as “absolute nonsense”.
Scotland Yard has asked for the Whitehall inquiry to only make “minimal reference” to the events it is investigating as it seeks to avoid any prejudice to its probe.
But it insisted it has not asked Sue Gray to delay her report or place any further restrictions on other events.
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The Metropolitan Police’s statement indicates the senior civil servant will either have to make significant changes to her report before publication or delay it until after the force’s inquiry.
But some legal figures have questioned why publishing the report would prejudice the police investigation.
Nazir Afzal, a former chief Crown prosecutor for the North West, said on Twitter: “This is absolute nonsense from the Met Police.
“A purely factual report by Sue Gray cannot possibly prejudice a police investigation.
“They just have to follow the evidence, of which the report will be a part.”
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A former director of public prosecutions suggested the Met’s stance was “disproportionate”.
Lord Macdonald told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: “The risk of the police intervention this morning is that this leaves things hanging in the air for weeks and months, and that seems obviously not to be in the public interest.
“If we’re talking about fixed penalty notices – like parking tickets, essentially – if we’re talking about that kind of resolution, then to take the rather grave step to delay a report that is going to shed public light on the subject matter of what may be a major public scandal, I think that is undesirable and I think it may be a misjudgment.
“But only police know what it is that is really at play here.
“It is really to…
Source : skynews
