Former British cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell has made a formal complaint to a police watchdog over the apparent leaking of the findings of a police probe into allegations he called officers “plebs”, it emerged on Sunday.
Mitchell was forced to resign in October as chief whip after police claimed he verbally abused an officer who stopped him cycling out of the main gates of Prime Minister David Cameron’s offices in Downing Street.
The alleged use of the word “pleb”, denoting a commoner, was potentially damaging for Cameron’s Conservative party because he and senior ministers including Mitchell hail from privileged backgrounds.
Mitchell, a former international development and aid minister, has always denied he used the word and insists the police have mounted a campaign to destroy his career.
He has now written to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) to claim that details of the London Metropolitan police’s own probe into the incident were leaked to newspapers.
The reports suggest the probe has found no evidence that officers lied about Mitchell’s behaviour.
In his letter to the IPCC, Mitchell wrote: “We are deeply dismayed that the Metropolitan Police appear to have leaked part of their report prepared for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to certain members of the press and spun it to the advantage of the police officers involved.
“This was an enquiry into a dishonest and illicit attempt to blacken my name and destroy my career. It would appear that this police enquiry continues precisely that process.”
Scotland Yard is trying to find out how the Sun and Daily Telegraph obtained information about the row and if it came from police.
Mitchell is suing The Sun, owned by Rupert Murdoch, which first reported the claims he used the word “pleb”.
It is also looking at a police officer’s claim to have witnessed the altercation and allegations by Mitchell that police lied in a log of the event.
Three police officers have so far been arrested as part of the investigation. All three remain suspended.
Andrew Mitchell files complaint with police watchdog
