Beds PCC faces criminal investigation

Olly Martins has admitted to disclosing information about the death of Leon Briggs in custody to an associate.

The Independent Police and Crime Commission today announced a criminal investigation into the incident.

IPCC Commissioner James Dipple Johnstone said: “I am satisfied from the information we have at this time that the disclosure should be recorded as a conduct matter. Not least because of the concern this matter will have caused to the Mr Brigg’s family and the local community means, there must be a fully-independent investigation to determine the full circumstances of that disclosure. Our investigation will be independent, thorough, and I want to reassure the community it will not detract from our important work investigating what happened to Mr Briggs in police custody.”

Mr Briggs, 39, died on November 4 last year after he was restrained and detained by Bedfordshire Police officers and taken to Luton police station. His death is being investigated by the IPCC.

Mr Martins has admitted sharing information about the case with a third party, who then disclosed it to others.

A member of the public informed Beds Police of the breach, who then alerted the IPCC.

The Beds Police and Crime Panel gave Mr Martins a written warning in January and on February 4 the IPCC wrote to the panel directing it to record the incident as a conduct matter.

The panel then referred it to the IPCC, who determined that the matter needed to be independently investigated.

Commissioner Dipple-Johnstone will oversee the criminal investigation, which is separate from the independent IPCC investigation into the death of Mr Briggs.