'Plebgate' row: Officer cleared of misconduct
A detective accused of giving a misleading account of an interview with Andrew Mitchell in the 2012 "plebgate" row has been cleared of misconduct.
Det Sgt Stuart Hinton had praised the Tory MP for his "candour" at a meeting after the incident before telling the BBC he had been evasive, a tribunal heard.
However, the officer's barrister said hindsight had supported his view.
Det Sgt Hinton has been cleared of breaching policing honesty standards.
Mitchell called PCs plebs, judge says
'Plebgate' row: Timeline
Transcript and audio of the Andrew Mitchell police meeting
The "plebgate" row centred on a 15-second confrontation in September 2012 between Mr Mitchell and PC Toby Rowland, in which – according to the Sun newspaper – the then Conservative chief whip called the officer a "pleb" for his refusal to permit him to cycle through the main gates at Downing Street.
Mr Mitchell was forced to resign from the cabinet over the row but vowed to clear his name in the libel courts, launching an action against the Sun.
But a judge ruled in 2014 that the MP probably had called PC Rowland a "pleb" and Mr Mitchell was ordered to pay damages as well as the Sun's legal costs.
A gross misconduct case against serving Warwickshire Police officer Det Sgt Hinton heard he and two Police Federation members met Mr Mitchell on 12 October 2012 at his constituency office, weeks after the incident at Downing Street.
A recording of the meeting showed Det Sgt Hinton thanking Mr Mitchell for his "candour", later telling him, "Everybody can have a bad day" after the MP had admitted to swearing at a police officer but had denied calling him a "pleb".
But the hearing heard Det Sgt Hinton told BBC Radio 5 Live the following day: "He [Mr Mitchell] still won't say exactly what he did say, which suggests that the officer's account is more likely to be the accurate one."
In that interview Det Sgt Hinton, described by colleagues as a "model detective", also called for Mr Mitchell to resign.
In his closing statement to the panel, presenting officer Aaron Rathmell said the officer had "passed judgment" and not given a fair and accurate account of the meeting.
But the detective's barrister Adrian Keeling said a man of "integrity" had been charged with "inaccurately reporting the lies told by a dishonest man".
"Hindsight absolutely supports Sgt Hinton's honest, accurate and candid view, relying on his good sense and judgement, which no doubt he's relied upon all these years [as a detective]," said Mr Keeling.
A string of glowing references from senior officers, including a retired chief constable, had also described Det Sgt Hinton's character as "beyond reproach".
A misconduct panel at the force's former headquarters found his on-air comments did not amount to dishonesty, discreditable conduct or a breach of integrity.
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