UK: Police bugging privileged conversations
01 January 2002
Three Lincolnshire detectives have been suspended from operational duties after allegations that they had illegally bugged privileged conversations between a lawyer and suspects in a murder case. The three detectives - Detective Chief Inspector Tony White, Detective Inspector Roger Bannister and Detective Sergeant Steve Thom - placed bugs in the police cells of the accused and in an exercise yard in order to overhear details of their defence. The covert operation was exposed at the end of January when the men's trial was brought to abrupt halt by the judge, Mr Justice Newman, who said: "Justice has been affronted in a grave way." He also criticised the prosecution for belatedly attempting to suppress the recordings by using the public interest defence, which allows police not to disclose material to the defence.
Lawyers have since claimed that this case is only the tip of a very large iceberg and that the practice is far more widespread than is commonly acknowledged. Franklin Sinclair, the senior partner with Tuckers solicitors, told the Times newspaper:
I have my suspicions that a number of interview rooms in police stations up and down the country are bugged and also I have a concern that some visiting rooms in prisons may be.
He added that the practice breached not only the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, but also the European Convention of Human Rights. Legal privilege is considered to be a fundamental right that has been upheld under common law. Mr Justice Newton added that the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 specifically stated that privileged conversations must not be subject to surveillance. The three police officers are likely to face a criminal investigation.
Times 30.1.02