Whistleblower cop 'went too far' with claims about GMP

EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL DISMISSES ALLEGATIONS MADE BY RETIRED DETECTIVE

- JOHN SCHEERHOUT

AN EMPLOYMENT tribunal has dismissed a series of claims by a retired senior detective turned whistleblower who alleged Greater Manchester Police was blighted by a 'rotten culture of cronyism' among senior ranks.

Pete Jackson, 60, the former head of GMP's major incident team, made a series of sensational allegations of corruption while he was still working at the force and, now retired, remains a vocal critic.

But the judgment concluded that Mr Jackson had 'gone too far' in his disclosures, even though some of his claims 'clearly happened.

Mr Jackson said the decision was 'perverse' and 'makes a mockery of whistleblowing law, and would have an 'extraordinary' chilling effect on other officials who consider blowing the the whistle on organisations like the police.

During an employment tribunal, he alleged he was sidelined and passed over for promotion after he blew the whistle on a number of investigations including how human remains of Harold Shipman's victims were secretly kept and then destroyed without the family's knowledge. He also made allegations to bosses that a boy was allowed to walk into the clutches of a suspected paedophile while undercover cops watched and he also complained of the 'dangerous, provocative' tactics in the hunt for Dale Cregan before he murdered two police officers.

He claimed he was 'undermined' as he sought to bring back alleged Salford gang bosses back to the UK. He claimed the way he was sidelined meant that two alleged gang leaders have escaped justice - Stephen Britton, a man named as leader of the A Team in successive trials, and Michael 'Cazza' Carroll, named as the boss of the splinter group known as the Anti A Team.