Disgraced ex-police chief ‘detrimental' to Harry Dunn probe

The report said Nick Adderley, who was sacked in June last year after lying about serving in the Falklands War, was reprimanded by the Foreign Office for making inaccurate comments about suspect Anne Sacoolas's immunity status after she had left the UK.
Sacoolas eventually pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving via video link at the Old Bailey following three years of the Dunn family campaigning for justice, after she was able to leave the UK when diplomatic immunity was asserted on her behalf.
The independent review, published on Wednesday, concluded that there was a 'lack of co-ordination and adherence to APP (professional standards guidance)' under Mr Adderley's leadership.
The report said: 'The review found that while the investigation was well handled, elements of senior leadership were not.
'The was a lack of co-ordination and adherence to APP.
'There were clearly significant efforts being made to deal with the challenges that this unique set of circumstances presented, but the lack of clarity defined Gold group strategy, and co-ordination of all stakeholders has meant that at times, areas of business were acting independently of one another.'
The review continued: 'This is evidenced during an interview when Chief Constable Adderley suggested that Anne Sacoolas could make decisions around waiving her diplomatic status, which she couldn't.
'According to the FCO (Foreign Office), diplomatic immunity belongs to the sending state.
'This prompted the FCO to contact Northamptonshire Police and request CC Adderley did not repeat erroneous statements.
'There were also discrepancies within CC Adderley's press conference on 22nd October 2019.
'Within the conference, information was provided to the national press which was inaccurate.
'The information was never sent to the SIO (senior investigating officer) for fact checking prior to release.
'There was also a lack of appropriate recording and associated documentation in relation to high-level meetings such as minutes, strategy, tasking and action logs.'
Harry's mother, Charlotte Charles, told the PA news agency she remained 'angry' at Adderley for the way her family was treated during the investigation.
The review said the breakdown in relations between the Dunn family and the force because of Mr Adderley's actions was 'avoidable'.
It highlighted incidents such as a tweet from the disgraced ex-police chief, which showed him react to the family's intentions to sue Sacoolas in the US by saying: 'How sad but how predictable.'
The report continued: 'It would be remiss of the review not to highlight some of the difficulties faced by the SIO and investigation team as a direct result of the activities of CC Adderley.'
It said a strategy to implement a fresh family liaison policy was 'rendered almost redundant' by Adderley after he elected to speak and provide information to family spokesman Radd Seiger on X without informing the SIO.
The review said: 'This placed the SIO and investigation team in an unenviable position as they sought to regain the trust of the family.
'There were multiple areas of direct involvement from CC Adderley which had a detrimental impact on the SIO and investigation team's efforts to rebuild trust and confidence.'
It added: 'The review also found that any Gold group structure implemented by CC Adderley was not fit for purpose, not in line with APP, and ultimately was a significant contributing factor in the loss of confidence in Northamptonshire Police from Harry Dunn's family.'

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Middle East situation ‘perilous', says Lammy amid calls for more talks

Rhyl Journal

42 minutes ago

Rhyl Journal

Middle East situation ‘perilous', says Lammy amid calls for more talks

David Lammy flew from Washington to Geneva on Friday to meet Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi alongside his French and German counterparts as the UK continued to press for a diplomatic solution to the Middle East crisis. The talks followed US President Donald Trump's announcement that he would delay a decision on joining Israeli strikes against Iran for up to two weeks. Speaking after the meeting, Mr Lammy told reporters: 'It is still clear to me, as President Trump indicated yesterday, that there is a window of within two weeks where we can see a diplomatic solution.' Urging Iran to 'take that off ramp' and talk to the Americans, he said: 'We have a window of time. This is perilous and deadly serious.' He added that the US and Europe were pushing for Iran to agree to zero enrichment of uranium as a 'starting point' for negotiations. But Mr Araghchi said Iran would not negotiate with the US as long as Israel continued to carry out airstrikes against the country, and insisted his country's nuclear programme was entirely peaceful. Both sides continued to exchange fire on Friday, with Iranian missiles targeting the city of Haifa while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tel Aviv's military operation would continue 'for as long as it takes'. Meanwhile, the UK Government has announced it will use charter flights to evacuate Britons stranded in Israel once the country's airspace reopens. Mr Lammy said work is under way to provide the flights 'based on levels of demand' from UK citizens who want to leave the region. The move follows criticism of the Foreign Office's initial response, which saw family members of embassy staff evacuated while UK citizens were not advised to leave and told to follow local guidance. The Government said the move to withdraw temporarily family members had been a 'precautionary measure'. On Friday, the Foreign Office announced that UK staff had also been evacuated from Iran, with the embassy continuing to operate remotely. But the Government continues to advise British nationals in the region to follow local advice, rather than urging them to leave.