| The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry | |||
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT POLICE CONSTABLE ALAN FISHER 38.1 Police Constable Alan Fisher was the officer appointed to be the Racial Incident Officer in Plumstead in November 1990. Mr Philpott was the moving spirit in the foundation of the Racial Incident Unit, and PC Fisher applied for the appointment. 38.2 PC Fisher was fully aware of the ACPO definition of a racist incident. He set up the Unit with these criteria in mind, and he indicated to us that he decided to record racist incidents by using a card index system. He set up categories within this system under the headings "Victim, Race Code, Suspect Code, Venue of Incident, Offence Code, and Crime Reference Number". He allotted sequential numbers unique to the racist incidents. The card indexes were intended to be cross-referenced under these headings. 38.3 We have seen the surviving cards of the card index, which were produced somewhat late in the day for the scrutiny of the Inquiry. Since 1995 the index has been computerised, and it is plain that in the early days the index was somewhat primitive. That is not intended to be a criticism of PC Fisher since he did the best that he could to embark upon uncharted waters. PC Fisher had no training relevant to this work nor in race awareness before he started work at Shooters Hill Police Station. He was the only officer involved initially on full-time duty in this regard. 38.4 In fact as long ago as February 1983 a document was produced called "Community and Race Relations Training for Police". That is a report of the Police Training Council Working Party, and it sets out the "Requirements for police training in community and race relations". That document is an interesting and sensitive report which would plainly have been useful to PC Fisher. It stressed the need for officers to be alert to the sensitivity of local conditions and to their reaction to different cultural attitudes. 38.5 PC Fisher thought that parts of the document sounded familiar, but the truth is that he was left effectively to develop his tactics and his job without much direction and certainly without training. PSgt Solley and Mr Philpott to some extent supervised and oversaw the activities of PC Fisher, but it is plain that he was left on his own, and later with PC Richardson, to deal with the thorny problem of recording and dealing with racist incidents. 38.6 We are confident that PC Fisher did the best that he could from the start. But he was a junior officer, and he accepts that to a considerable extent in that position he did have to look over his shoulder and rely upon other people to assist him in carrying out his task. He worked from the beginning closely with Greenwich Council, and he paid tribute to Mr Penstone with whom he co-operated from the start. PC Fisher had valuable feedback from Mr Penstone, and he told the Inquiry that he frequently asked Mr Penstone to attend when a statement had to be taken in more difficult circumstances. He and Mr Penstone dealt with a number of cases in co-operation. PC Fisher also relied on information and help from GACARA and from Greenwich Council itself. He said that that was the only way in which he had guidance as to how to conduct his duties, together with his own ideas and those transmitted to him by PSgt Solley and Mr Philpott. 38.8 PC Fisher thought that in terms of investigating crime involving racist motivation the system worked well, but he accepted that there was a marked lack of training in racist matters both as to himself and other police officers. 38.9 As to the gathering of intelligence again there was no specific direction as to how this should be done by the Racial Incident Unit, but PC Fisher developed a system of identifying problems where there were groups conducting racist attacks, in order to be able to contribute to the sharing of information which was coming into the various agencies involved in racist affairs. 38.10 PC Fisher believed that his relationship with GACARA, and in particular with Mr Barrah, was quite good. To start with it appears that there was some tension between PC Fisher and Mr Barrah, but PC Fisher's comment was that things appeared to get better. 38.11 In 1991 Rolan Adams was murdered in Thamesmead. PC Fisher was appointed as Family Liaison Officer to Mr & Mrs Adams. It is to some extent revealing that this appointment was made, since it meant that PC Fisher was wearing two different hats, one as the only officer in charge of the Racial Incident Unit and another as the sole Family Liaison Officer to Mr & Mrs Adams. 38.12 PC Fisher accepted that the connection with Mr & Mrs Adams took a long time to develop. Sometimes the relationship was good, and sometimes it was very strained. No complaint was made about PC Fisher directly or indirectly in connection with his role with the Mr & Mrs Adams, but it is palpable that things did not go well in that liaison. 38.13 PC Fisher became acquainted with the names Goatley, Copley and Hyland (the red Astra trio) during his dealings with the Adams case. He had also been a home beat officer for three years in Thamesmead during which time he had come across those individuals. When he became a Racial Incident Officer PC Fisher remembers that at least two of those young men, namely Mr Hyland and Mr Copley, came to his notice in connection with other racist behaviour or incidents. The name Hyland appears on a suspect card in the Racial Incident Unit card index, but to PC Fisher's surprise the names Goatley and Copley were not in the index at all. He could give no explanation for that omission, and he remains convinced that there had been cards for those men in his system. 38.14 As to the spreading of information PC Fisher told us that in the early days he would give information to the collators at the relevant police stations. This would be done by filling in a green form, and later on a fresh form was devised in order to ensure the flow of information from his Unit to the collators' cards. 38.15 At about 05:00 on the morning of 23 April 1993 PC Fisher was contacted and asked to attend Plumstead Police Station. At the police station PC Fisher saw Mr Jeynes, who explained the circumstances of the murder of Stephen Lawrence. In this somewhat informal manner PC Fisher joined the AMIP investigation team, probably because somebody realised that there ought to be input from the Racial Incident Unit. PC Fisher remained with the investigation team until 4 May 1993. On that date the policy file indicates that PC Fisher was to be returned to the Racial Incident Unit because there were demonstrations and other activities which appeared to be about to take place, and it was thought that PC Fisher had to be back at his original duty in order to deal with these matters. 38.16 PC Fisher was attached to the AMIP team to help if he could, particularly in connection with any racist aspect of the case. As a non-CID officer his input would have been limited to specific racist aspects rather than to the general investigation. Thus a message was passed to S012, the Special Branch Section at New Scotland Yard responsible for holding intelligence on extremist bodies, to the effect that "in view of the possible involvement of serious right wing factions would you note our interest and ask our officers at that desk to liaise with us via PC Fisher the Racial Incidents Officer." 38.17 On 25 April PC Fisher was expressly deputed to arrange a search of the Special Branch Index in connection with the names Dobson, Acourt, Norris and Goodchild. Also on 28 April the system records that Mr Penstone would be "in contact with PC Fisher and supply all rumours". Thus Mr Penstone was connected through PC Fisher with the investigating team. 38.18 PC Fisher was never formally appointed as a Liaison Officer to Mr & Mrs Lawrence. That task had been expressly given to DS Bevan and DC Holden. It was plainly thought desirable that a Racial Incident Officer should go to see Mr & Mrs Lawrence, as a temporary addition to the formal liaison team. PC Fisher in fact went to Mr & Mrs Lawrence's home on Friday 23 April. There he saw Ben White of GACARA standing outside the front door. It appears that GACARA did not on that occasion enter the premises, since there were other people present. 38.19 Mr Fisher also attended the mortuary on Saturday 24 April. He remembers that DS Bevan and DC Holden went inside with Mr & Mrs Lawrence. He was there to assist if his help had been needed. 38.20 On 30 April PC Fisher went to investigate an incident which took place in the car park of Sainsburys at Woolwich. It occurred when Mrs Lawrence was in a car with her sister, Mrs Sloley, and with another woman. There was an incident involving their car and a trolley loaded with shopping which was being manoeuvred by two white women. There was an altercation, and it appears that the white women used foul language as a result of which the incident developed. The white women made very unpleasant racist remarks, and one of them appears to have taken something from the boot of her car. Mrs Sloley believed that she was threatened by the woman who appeared to be holding a brick in her hand. The woman says that this was a can of dog food which she took from the boot because Mrs Sloley and her friend appeared to be coming towards them in a threatening manner. 38.21 There was obviously bad language used on both sides and at one stage Mrs Sloley tried to get hold of that which the woman was holding. PC Fisher believed that there was enough material and sufficient evidence to charge at least one of the two white women. He completed a set of case papers for the CPS, and alleged that there had been an affray under Section 4, Public Order Act, 1986. 38.22 Later the file came back and the Crown Prosecutor, Mr Burns, indicated that both the parties to this incident became particularly upset, perhaps because of recent bereavements, and that there was aggression on both sides. "I do not consider that any offence is properly made out and proceedings should not be brought against any party". Mrs Lawrence and Mrs Sloley plainly believed that this was turning the case upon its head. PC Fisher agrees with that, and indicated to the Inquiry that he believed that there should have been a prosecution in this case. There was no prosecution. The unsatisfactory outcome of this incident from the point of view of Mrs Lawrence and Mrs Sloley is that it has similarity with a series of examples and submissions made to us during Part 2 of our Inquiry. The suggestion made is that racist incidents are "turned on their heads" by police officers and others who tend to side incorrectly and insensitively with the perpetrators rather than with the victims of such incidents. 38.23 When Mr Kamlish questioned PC Fisher he accepted, as he had from the outset, that he had not had any relevant training in the area of racist crime or race relations otherwise than through brief notes which had been given to him at some stage. This was yet another example of another officer whose heart was in the right place, but who had had no training to conduct the special activities which he was given by Mr Philpott. He tried evidently to base his Unit on the Domestic Violence Unit, and thought that this would be a reasonable framework to start with. He appreciated that the very existence of a Racial Incident Unit would tend to isolate racist crime, so that the risk of marginalisation existed. Nonetheless he was an enthusiast, and believed that his general training and police activity would allow him to develop his specialised role. 38.24 When he was appointed to the Stephen Lawrence investigation, he believed that he was there because the murder was motivated by racism, and it seemed to be a good idea to attach him to the team simply for that reason. PC Fisher believed that he might have been designated as a Family Liaison Officer, for the same reason, but in fact his actual contribution to the investigation seems to have been slight. That is not PC Fisher's fault. He was not a regular member of the AMIP team itself, and of course he had no CID experience. 38.25 In answer to Mr Yearwood PC Fisher expanded upon his activities in the Racial Incident Unit. He told us how crime reports would reach him, after being filled out by the original investigating officer. And he told the Inquiry about the classification of cases and the way in which they would thereafter be investigated. To some extent the Unit did simply develop as time went along. There was no true guidance as to what PC Fisher was to do, or how he was to manage the Unit's affairs. 38.26 Mr Yearwood criticised to some extent the failure of PC Fisher to obtain information in his intelligence gathering role from local schools. How much this can be laid at the door of PC Fisher is in our view doubtful. 38.27 All in all PC Fisher was a sympathetic and a careful witness, and we gained the impression that he did the best that he could in the circumstances. To some extent he was in a watertight compartment, and he was of course a junior officer and was conscious that he had to look over his shoulder in connection with his own activities. He worked with GACARA and the local community. He never received a formal complaint against the police in connection with his tasks, but he did hear that GACARA had information that the community were not totally happy with the service which the Racial Incident Unit was giving. 38.28 During the time that he was actually serving on the Stephen Lawrence investigation he indicated that he did what he could, and that he was always available for the team to contact him if he needed to be contacted so that he could put the AMIP officer in touch with people that he knew in the various organisations with which he liaised. 38.29 His positive contribution to the Stephen Lawrence investigation was probably slight, but we feel that the small beginnings conducted by PC Fisher and initiated by Mr Philpott were at least positive steps in the right direction. That is not to say that the collection of information and the handling of racist crime and racist incidents is even now satisfactory. But at least a start was made which is being nurtured by the police and by the local authority and other agencies.
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