Two police officers were cleared of lying about th
Two police officers were cleared of lying about the arrest of a suspect today (Mon) after the case against them collapsed at the Old Bailey.
PC Mark Edwards, 33, a former training director at Hendon police college, was said to have hatched a dishonest scheme to avoid staying late at the station.
It was alleged Edwards claimed colleague Duncan Evans
had arrested Ilyas Gunes and made false entries in his notebook supporting the claim.
And fellow Bethnal Green officer Jonathan Luxford, 30, who was in a squad car with Edwards at the time, was accused of backing up the lies.
But today (Mon) after Evans had completed his evidence for the Crown, Mark Lucraft, for the prosecution, announced that he would be offering no further evidence against Edwards and Luxford.
The court was told that there was simply not enough evidence to allow the prosecution to prove its case.
The Judge, Mr Recorder Walter Aylen, QC, directed the jury to formally acquit both Edwards and Luxford of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
Pc Luxford and Pc Edwards, whose addresses were given as [12] Victoria Park Square, Bethnal Green, denied the charge.
The pair had been called out after a car was vandalised on July 5 last year.
Spurned husband Gunes admitted smashing the windows of a car belonging to his wife’s lover and was arrested by Edwards.
On the journey Edwards allegedly radioed Evans and asked him to switch to another channel so they could have a conversation without blocking other messages.
‘Evans is asked if he is interested in the job,’ Mr Lucraft said.
‘When Evans said he was already involved in another arrest and did not know what Edwards had said, he was told: ”Don’t worry.
”
Incident report books written up at the station stated Evans and not Edwards had made the arrest.
‘The prosecution say Evans was not only not present when Gunes was arrested, he did not have a conversation with him at the scene,’ added the barrister.
Edwards told investigating officers he was not at the scene when Gunes was arrested because he was speaking to another witness.
Asked to explain inconsistencies in this notebook Edwards said he was ‘rushing and got the names mixed up and put the narrative in the wrong place.
‘
ends
