Scotland Yard is facing warnings of potential miscarriages of justice following the issuance of controversial guidance to officers regarding the language used in official reports. The 14-page document advises police to avoid dozens of 'inappropriate terms' when documenting cases for senior officers or Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) lawyers, a move critics suggest may compromise impartiality in the pursuit of criminal charges.
Legal experts have raised concerns that the guidance, intended to improve the chances of prosecution, could lead to a repeat of past investigative failures. They point to the Metropolitan Police's Operation Midland inquiry, where a 'believe-the-victim' policy, influenced by the testimony of Carl Beech, resulted in the raiding of innocent individuals' homes and damage to their reputations. Beech was later convicted of perverting the course of justice and child sex offenses, and Operation Midland is widely considered a significant investigative failure.
As the tenth anniversary of a critical High Court report into the Operation Midland fiasco approaches, claims have emerged that the current force leadership may not be recording evidence against suspects impartially, potentially harming innocent individuals. The guidance, titled 'Language Matters Guidance,' was reportedly developed in response to a critical report by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, which accused the Met of employing victim-blaming language and failing vulnerable children involved in sexual and criminal exploitation.
The 'Language Matters Guidance' effectively bans terms such as a victim being 'rude and dismissive to police,' refusing to hand over a phone, associating with gangs, or dealing in drugs. Instead, officers are provided with 'suggested alternatives' or 'preferred options' for their reports.
A whistleblower reportedly alerted the Daily Mail to the document, citing widespread ethical concerns among officers who are hesitant to voice them. Nazir Afzal, a former chief prosecutor for the North-West, has analyzed the guidance and acknowledged the good intentions behind it, stating that treating complainants with compassion is long overdue. However, he cautioned that miscarriages of justice can stem from well-intentioned policies.
Afzal stated that the document instructs officers to abandon neutrality in records that may later reach court, urging them to omit the word 'alleged' and refer to unproven suspects as 'the perpetrator.' He also noted instructions not to 'draw attention to' inconvenient material within a report. According to Afzal, each instruction undermines the impartial and complete record necessary for a fair trial, and equally for convicting the guilty, as a biased record benefits the defense.
Harvey Proctor, a former Conservative MP who received a £900,000 payout from the Met over the mishandling of Operation Midland, suggested the guidance would increase the number of falsely accused individuals in the UK and called it a 'charter for police wrongdoing.'
The Metropolitan Police responded by stating that the guidance was a direct result of the 2024 inspection by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabularies, and that police forces are required to act on such recommendations. They emphasized that training officers on victim-blaming language is an initiative to improve trust in policing and reiterated their deep regret over the handling of Operation Midland, committing to preventing similar errors.