Gwen Loudon Again Stephen House, The Chief Constable Of Police Scotland
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judge | Sheriff K.A. Veal |
| Court | Sheriff Court |
| Docket Number | PD6/13 |
| Date | 28 May 2014 |
| Published date | 17 June 2014 |
12014 SCDUND18
SHERIFFDOM OF TAYSIDE, CENTRAL AND FIFE SITTING AT FORFAR
JUDGMENT
BY
SHERIFF K.A. VEAL
IN THE CASE OF
GWEN LOUDON
AGAINST
STEPHEN HOUSE THE CHIEF CONSTABLE OF POLICE SCOTLAND
PD6/13
Forfar, 28 May 2014
The sheriff, having resumed consideration of the whole cause, finds in fact: -
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The pursuer is Gwen Laidlaw or Louden. She resides in Dundee. She is a serving police officer, having completed – as at May 2014 – 22 years police service. In 2010, she was serving with Tayside Constabulary, (in the Constabulary’s Eastern Division). With the amalgamation of the Scottish police forces, she now serves with Police Scotland.
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The defender is the Chief Constable of Police Scotland. Their headquarters are located at PO Box 21184, Alloa, Clackmannanshire. Police Scotland is the successor organisation to Tayside Police.
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The events giving rise to this action occurred at the former Tayside Eastern Divisional Headquarters in West High Street, Forfar, and at Arbroath Police Office.
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In 2010, the pursuer was employed in Community Policing at Muirhead, by Dundee, which was then part of the Eastern Division of Tayside Police. Her then role was that of Community Liaison Officer, working inter alia in Community Centres, schools etc. In consequence, she operated on her own at most times. She would also interview suspects, caution and charge persons, and if necessary carry out arrests and submit reports to the Procurator Fiscal.
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On 27 May 2010, the police were contacted by telephone and a colleague of the pursuer was advised that James Donaldson wished to make a complaint about an assault allegedly committed against him. At the time of the receipt of this information, the police were unaware that the alleged perpetrator was Miss Claire Powell. The gist of the complaint, as she subsequently ascertained, was that Miss Powell was alleged to have thrown a McFlurry ice cream at Mr Donaldson.
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On 31 May 2010, the pursuer made an appointment to see Claire Powell at the home she occupied with her mother. Although the interview with Claire Powell was scheduled to take place on 1 June 2010 at about 11 a.m., her colleague from Kirriemuir, (Police Constable Steven McIntosh), whom she had requested to be present with her at the interview for corroboration purposes, was delayed by the necessity of having to attend a Road Traffic Accident that morning. The meeting with Miss Powell and the furthering of this investigation did not thus proceed until the early afternoon of the same day.
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The pursuer, with P. C. McIntosh present as the corroborating officer, first interviewed Mrs. Veronica Powell, the mother of Claire Powell. At the commencement of that interview, the pursuer told Claire Powell to leave the room in which the interview was being conducted and go temporarily into another part of the house. In the course of that interview, Mrs Veronica Powell denied that her daughter, Claire, had assaulted James Donaldson. At the end of that interview, the pursuer agreed that P C McIntosh could leave the scene. She did not proceed at that time to take a statement from Claire Powell. She did however make it clear to Claire Powell that her investigations into the allegation were not necessarily ended at that time, nor would her investigation and enquiry about this incident on that day (1 June 2010)be the end of this matter. She explained that the crime of assault did not have to include the use of violence or force. The pursuer did not formally interview Claire Powell at that stage, although she did speak with her prior to leaving the locus. In light of what was said by Mrs Powell and Claire Powell to her, the pursuer updated the initial crime report, and attempted to update the complaint about the alleged assault committed against James Donaldson by Claire Powell. The pursuer intended to return and interview Claire Powell a few days later.
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The pursuer never at any time in the course of her conversation with Claire Powell on 1 June 2012 coached Claire Powell as to either what she ought to say to the police about the alleged assault or to say nothing if and when she was questioned. In particular, she never advised Claire Powell to deny the assault.
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Subsequently, Claire Powell was interviewed by P C Kelly Bramhill in connection with the alleged assault on her by James Donaldson. In the course of that interview, Claire Powell denied assaulting James Donaldson. (Neither the interviewing nor corroborating officer believed Claire Powell when she denied the assault.) When the same officer interviewed Claire Powell at her home on another occasion soon thereafter on an entirely separate issue, Miss Powell was accused by P C Bramhill of previously lying in connection with the assault on James Donaldson. At that stage, and for the first time, Claire Powell admitted to having lied when previously spoken to by the police. When asked why she had lied, Miss Powell claimed that the pursuer had told her to deny the assault.
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Thereafter, all papers in connection with allegation against the pursuer, that she had coached Claire Powell and had thus attempted to pervert the course of justice, were passed to the District Procurator Fiscal, who advised Inspector Alistair Waghorn, (one of the officers involved in the enquiry against the pursuer), that he – the District Procurator Fiscal – considered that there was an insufficiency of evidence against the pursuer to sustain a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice. He did however advise that, if there was an admission by the pursuer, this could provide the necessary corroboration to support such a charge being brought against the pursuer.
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At about noon on 25 June 2104, the pursuer, who was off duty, received a telephone message from Detective Inspector Waghorn, who sought a meeting with her urgently. She readily and quickly arranged to attend at Tayside Police Eastern Divisional Headquarters in West High Street, Forfar. Prior to her arrival at Police Headquarters in Forfar, the pursuer had not been told of the reason for the meeting.
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At Forfar Police Headquarters, the pursuer was interviewed by Detective Sergeant Nicola McGovern and Detective Inspector Alistair Waghorn of Tayside Police. She was asked to and did complete Voluntary Attendance Forms. She was cautioned at the very commencement of the interview. She was also advised that “the Police Federation ha(d) been informed that (she was) there and that (she was) (t)here on a voluntary basis.” The interview commenced at 14.13 hours and concluded at 14.54 hours. Pages 1 to 13 of the pursuer’s Inventory of Productions number 5/6/12 of process is a transcript of that interview.
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The pursuer, at no point in the course of the interview, admitted or accepted that she had attempted to pervert the course of justice. In particular, she strenuously denied that she had coached the potential witness, Claire Powell, as to what she ought to say in any statement that she would give to the police.
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Following that interview, the pursuer was again interviewed by the same two officers, (Detective Inspector Waghorn and Detective Sergeant McGovern), at 15.42 hours the same day, when she was formally cautioned and charged with the offence of attempting to pervert the course of justice. To that charge, she made no reply. Page 14 of the pursuer’s Inventory of Productions number 5/6/12 is a transcript of that subsequent interview.
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The pursuer was informed, after being cautioned and charged, that her status as voluntary attendee not longer applied, and that the interviewing officers considered her to have been earlier arrested as at 15.30 hours. She was detained in custody and was no longer at liberty to leave the police headquarters. There was no warrant sought or granted for her arrest.
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To enable the pursuer to be processed as an arrested person, she was taken by Inspector Waghorn to Arbroath Police Station.At Arbroath Police Station, she was read her rights as an arrested person. Her fingerprints and DNA were taken and she was photographed. The pursuer was not detained or placed in a detention cell at any time. After being processed, she was driven back to Forfar Police headquarters by Detective Inspector Waghorn, where she collected her own motor vehicle.
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The pursuer felt belittled and grossly humiliated by her arrest. She was of the belief that the original incident was de minimis and that the allegation made against her was predicated on information that, in her eyes, was completely untrue. Furthermore, she believed that such evidence would not, on objective examination, be regarded as credible and reliable.
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Papers were passed back to the Area Procurator Fiscal who decided to take no proceedings. His decision was intimated to the Deputy Chief Constable of Tayside Police by letter dated 12 November 2010. This decision was subsequently intimated to the pursuer by a representative of the Police Force.
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The pursuer, because of her failure to formally interview Claire Powell at the time of the original complaint by James Donaldson, received in 2011 a “66” warning and had a mark placed on her work record, this warning lasting for 3 years. The effect of this sanction was to prevent her from applying for any level of promotion during the requisite period. Whilst electing not to attend the subsequent disciplinary hearing which imposed this sanction, she nonetheless submitted a report detailing her side of this matter.
- As a result of being formally arrested, and particularly because she, a serving police officer, was processed as an arrested person within the Eastern Division of Tayside Police, (her own Division of Tayside Police), where she had worked and had continued to work for many years, the pursuer felt belittled and humiliated. When she relayed the fact of her arrest to her family and friends, she would break into tears. She felt unable, even if she had so wished, to return to work....
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