Friday brief: Police standards department launches motorbikes sale inquiry
Friday brief: Police standards department launches motorbikes sale inquiry
Plus a round up of news from Northants
Northamptonshire Police’s professional standards department is looking into the sale of some Italian motorbikes gifted to a safety scheme led by disgraced former chief constable Nick Adderley.
The Ducati bikes were gifted to the national Bikesafe scheme, which until his suspension, was led by Adderley, who was sacked in June for dishonesty.
The scheme, which was set up in Cheshire in the early 2000s, and operates across the majority of police forces across the country runs workshops to upskill motorcyclists in an attempt to prevent road deaths.
We asked Northamptonshire police a number of questions after receiving some information from a source and were given the following response:
“ . . we have begun an inquiry into a number of 66-plate Ducati motorcycles which were gifted to the NPCC Bike Safe portfolio in 2017. These motorbikes were subsequently sold on after February 2020 and our Professional Standards Department (PSD) is now looking to understand the circumstances of those sales. This inquiry is in its very early stages and, as such, we will not be commenting further at this time.”
Adderley’s career ended in disgrace after a gross misconduct hearing in June exposed the series of lies he had told across his policing career.
His charade was exposed after his second wife contacted the police, fire and crime commissioner’s officer after seeing photos of him wearing war medals he did not earn. The complaint and his dishonest response to early questions led to further investigations which exposed a catalogue of lies. He had falsely claimed to have studied at a prestigious naval college along with claiming to have acted as a military negotiator in Haiti.
But questions still remain about his five year tenure at Northants Police in light of his dishonest character.
Northants Police told NN Journal last week that it would be taking a ‘wider look’ to consider anything else that needed to be reviewed as a result of Adderley’s leadership and said it was committed to being open and honest so lessons could be learned.
The force is due to publish the results of a review into how Adderley passed vetting to get the high ranking chief constable role, when much he had claimed on his CV was untrue. All police officers should receive thorough checks before they are employed and senior officers should be subject to developed vetting, which goes into various aspects of their personal and financial life.
News in brief
Plans to build a new later-living village near an award-winning spa and hotel leisure complex in the south of the county have been turned down at appeal.
Whittlebury Park Enterprises Ltd applied to West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) in 2022 to build three types of 50 plus accommodation on a site off the main entrance to the Park, below Whittlebury village. The application consisted of independent-living bungalows and semi-detached houses for over 55s, assisted-living apartments and an elderly person’s care home along the A413 road towards Buckingham.
Plans attracted lots of attention from members of the public during council consultation and received more than 100 representations.
The final decision for the development fell onto the shoulders of the government’s planning inspectorate after Whittlebury Park submitted an appeal due to WNC taking too long to decide.
It ruled that the site was not in an “acceptable location” for specialist housing with the small village of Whittlebury not having enough services to benefit the number of people that would move in and infrequent bus services being a barrier to accessing other nearby towns such as Towcester. It also found that the housing could result in “a permanent erosive effect on the rural characteristics of the land surrounding Whittlebury”.
The planning inspectorate dismissed the appeal and concluded that planning permission should be refused.
Report by Nadia Lincoln, local democracy reporter
A Raunds man who went missing on Sunday has been found dead at Stanwick Lakes.
Jamie Attwood’s body was found on Wednesday evening at 6pm, during a police search.
He had gone missing from his home and police say they will want to establish what happened to him after he was last seen on Sunday.
Detective Inspector Nick Peters said:
“This is a tragic outcome to the search for Jamie, and our thoughts and condolences are with his family and loved ones. We would ask that their privacy is respected at this desperately difficult time.”
Anyone with information can call Northamptonshire Police on 101 (quoting reference number MPE1/2934/24).
The top ten fly tipping hotspots in the West Northants council area are all in Northampton, an investigation by the local democracy reporting service has found.
There have been more than 17,000 fly-tipping incidents reported in West Northamptonshire between July last year and this.
West Northamptonshire Council revealed after a Freedom of Information request that it dealt with 17,227 reports of fly-tipping in the 12-month period- an average of 47 incidents a day. This is a slight increase from the same time period the year prior, coming in at 16,668 instances.
It said the most fly-tipped streets were:
Semilong Road- 672 incidents
Billing Brook Road- 569
Greenwood Road- 337
Barley Hill Road- 278
Greatmeadow- 267
Essex Street- 242
Alcombe Road- 236
Baker Street- 158
Somerset Street- 136
Kingsley Park Terrace* (WNC cannot give a figure but can confirm it is in the top ten).
Castle ward, in the centre of Northampton, was the fly tipping hotspot with 3,343 reports in the 12 months.
Councillor Danielle Stone commented:
“The ward councillors in Castle ward report fly tipping all the time and are really fed up with it. It reflects badly on the town, on the council and sits badly with regeneration schemes.”
Councillor Jamal Alwahbi said of his ward being the worst for litter:
“We have suggested solutions to WNC on many occasions, but they just don’t listen. More neighbourhood wardens with smaller areas to look after would help.
“Providing landlords with efficient collection services could alleviate some of the waste management issues. It’s crucial for local authorities to engage with community feedback to foster an environment where residents feel their concerns are addressed and their quality of life is a priority.”
The highest penalty for fly-tipping in Northampton is now £1,000, up from £400.
A spokesperson for West Northamptonshire Council said:
“WNC spends in the region of £3million per annum keeping public land clear of litter and fly tipping and continue to work with partner organisations to try to tackle the ongoing issues in these locations and allocate our limited resources to the areas most in need.
“We will continue to take enforcement action where we have robust evidence to do so. Residents can support this work by disposing of their waste correctly and by providing us with statements and evidence such as Ring doorbell video footage or other information.”
Report by Nadia Lincoln
Fly tipping has been a massive problem in St James for a number of years, so it's no surprise to see Greenwood Rd coming third in this list. The truth is people have given up reporting this and other hotspots in the area. The council and it's partner have lost control of it. Staff cut backs within the oddly named Environmental Wardens has contributed to a a lack of enforcement. Wardens now cover many areas in stead of covering just one or two. The increase in HiMO property is a severe pressure also. Rented accommodation where there is a transient tenancy due to rogue landlords also contributes to fly tipping. Frankly it is disgusting and a disgrace. A complete failure by the administration to get to grips with it and tackle the root causes over many years. Austerity measures (cutbacks) and worshipping at the alter of free market economics are just two causes.
From above "The force is due to publish the results of a review into how Adderley passed vetting...".
In the NNJ article on 27/6/24, it says that this review was being conducted by the Commissior's office (not by the force itself), under the auspices of the new Commissioner, and that it was anticipated to be put into the public domain "next month" (i.e. by the end of July). This clearly hasn't happened. Further, it is not an unreasonable suspicion that the reason for this is, perhaps, a willingness on the part of the new Commissioner to protect the reputations of individuals within her staff, several of whom have, of course, carried over from working for the previous Commissioner. Perhaps now might be the time for pressure to be put on Ms Stone to look like a little more like the new broom that she claims to be, and, in the words of the late Duke of Edinburgh, "pull her finger out"?