WOULD YOU WANT TO BE A COPPER?

When John Fox saw a long, dark object hurtling towards his windscreen, he took immediate evasive action, closing his eyes, ducking below the steering wheel and swerving his car fiercely to the right to avoid being struck. What the missile was, he had no idea, but he knew it had been flung by one of a group of three hooded youths he had spotted lurking on the pavement as he drove sedately past.

What he did know was that, as a senior policeman, even an off-duty one, he was determined to take a stand against such yobbish behaviour. "I thought it was a bottle and was going to shatter the windscreen," he said. "It hit the car and made a loud bang. When I regained control of the car, I was shaken but not angry. And I resolved to go back and give the youths a sound telling-off and point out how dangerous they had been."

He added, "I reversed back, got out of the car and one of the youths came towards me with flailing arms and swearing. At first I thought all three were boys. But I grabbed the hooded top and then saw it was a girl. I just said, 'You stupid, stupid little girl. Do you realise how dangerous that was?' Then I climbed back into my car and drove home." John's drive through the quiet Southampton suburb of Woolston at 9.30 that night in May 2005 had otherwise been unexceptional.

But his decision to remonstrate with the teenagers - two girls, aged 14 and 15, and one boy - on an evening when he was off duty led to two charges of assault, months of torment and humiliation and drove him to abandon his police career. John had risen to the rank of Detective Superintendent who headed a specialist investigations unit of 150 officers for Hampshire Police, with a remit that included child abuse.

In his impeccable 30-year career, he built up a respected expertise in child protection that earned him a seat on the inquiry that investigated the murder of eight-year-old Victoria Climbie at the hands of her abusive carers and he had been a member of various Home Office committees. But the girls he challenged that night claimed he had throttled them and their complaint was revealed in court as a pack of lies.

Magistrates at Chichester took only 25 minutes to decide he was not guilty of assault. They found "glaring inconsistencies" in the girls' reports and ruled that because of the teenagers' history of disruptive and aggressive behaviour, and contradictions in their stories, they were "not credible witnesses". But the fact that such a flawed case was brought highlights growing concerns among police officers that the Crown Prosecution Service wants all allegations against police officers, no matter how flimsy, settled by a court.

John was told that a letter from the Sussex CPS, which brought the prosecution, to Hampshire police suggested the complaint should go to court because he held a senior position of responsibility. But Sarah Jane Gallagher, chief crown prosecutor for Sussex, denied this motive, saying, "I absolutely refute any suggestion that we carried out this prosecution because Mr Fox was a senior police officer." Nevertheless, the law has made it easier than ever to complain about the police.

No longer must a complaint be filed to a police station by the person involved. Instead any family member, or witness, can table a complaint via a solicitor or other services, such as Citizens Advice Bureaux. It was the mothers of the girls involved in the incident with John Fox who complained to Hampshire Police. The girls took note of his car's registration number, so they could make their complaint first. (Source: Daily Mail, Jul/06)