Police could face charges 30 years after Blair Peach death
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Retired police officers could face prosecution for perverting the course of justice over the death of anti-racism activist Blair Peach 30 years ago.
Scotland Yard passed a secret internal report into the killing to officials at the Crown Prosecution Service yesterday. The decision was made after public pressure to reveal the almost forgotten review in the months after the death of Ian Tomlinson during the G20 protests.
Senior officers pencilled in publication for later this month after an appeal by Mr Peach's partner, Celia Stubbs. But police solicitors advised that prosecutors should examine it to see whether further inquiries could be made and charges brought.
One source close to the process said it was unlikely that murder or manslaughter charges would be brought, but officers may face corruption charges. A shadow has hung over the death of Mr Peach, 33, since he was hit over the head at a demonstration against the National Front in Southall, west London, in 1979.
Members of the Special Patrol Group were suspected of hitting him with a rubberised police radio or a lead-filled cosh. A report written by Commander John Cass, a former senior officer at the Met's internal complaints department, examined his death. He is believed to have recommended the prosecution of police officers, although no charges were ever brought.
In June, the Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson said the report should be published with some details censored.
In July, former Scotland Yard inspector Alan Murray said he believed Mr Peach was murdered or unlawfully killed, but not by police. Mr Murray, now a 59-year-old Sheffield University lecturer, led a unit of the Met's Special Patrol Group. He denied killing Mr Peach and said that he did not believe anyone in his unit was responsible.
The former officer said the inquiry was flawed and a verdict of death by misadventure at Mr Peach's inquest was "inappropriate".
MPA member Jenny Jones, who was the first to call for the report to be published this summer, welcomed the decision: "This could be a wonderful Christmas present for Blair Peach's family, if anything comes from it."