A6 Rebooted

[Spitfire]

Howard may have no idea who may have the file but I bet he's got a bloody good recollection of what was in it and, more importantly, its conclusions.

And for that matter, so does our Derrick.

As I said on another thread, libel has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with it.

Everything Matthews found was presented at the appeal in 2002, and some.

That doesn't mean that it was treated with any fairness...don't get me wrong on that eh?

Remember Hawser?

Del

[djw]

Is it worth sending a more open ended FOI for the Matthews report, as previously suggested? And if so, then to which department? The Home Office, the Ministry of Justice or the Metropolitan Police? Or is it worth digging deeper with the National Archives or the Information Commissioner?

[Sherlock Houses]

Is it worth sending a more open ended FOI for the Matthews report, as previously suggested? And if so, then to which department? The Home Office, the Ministry of Justice or the Metropolitan Police? Or is it worth digging deeper with the National Archives or the Information Commissioner?

Alas it seems you are discovering what a joke the FOI act is proving to be. Also known as the "Fobbed Off Interminably" act. The Matthews Report must be a complete figment of our imagination, it never existed.

[cobalt]

djw,

You're not alone in your frustration. Here is a report on a FOI request concerning the Jean Townsend murder of 1954.


''In 2005, a former schoolfriend of Jean's (and a neighbour and family friend of the Townsends), Reg Hargrave, applied for access to the police case files – now held by the UK National Archives at the Public Record Office in Kew – under the Freedom of Information Act. The request was refused and – following an approach to the Information Commissioner – an appeal was heard (in part in closed session) by an Information Tribunal in November 2007. In its ruling the Tribunal dismissed the appeal and upheld an earlier decision to withhold the files from public inspection until 2031……. The Tribunal heard that whilst the police case files were substantial, a number of items were missing.

The Townsend case still elicits a certain amount of interest in the Ruislip area, albeit on a limited scale. Unofficial enquiries and research are still undertaken by those who have developed an interest in it, including the appellant in the FOI case above……….. A chance meeting in 1983 with a retired detective who had worked on the case suggested that the police had a pretty good idea who was responsible, but were unable to gather sufficient evidence to make an arrest or bring charges.''