Final Report of the Morris Inquiry: The Case for Change

LESSONS FOR THE FUTURE
“Learning from my own experience, what caused the most trauma to my family, and in particular
my children, is the clandestine briefing to the press.” (Evidence of Superintendent Dizaei.)
10.66 In addition, in our view, while the public interest may require the MPS to
announce to the media the fact of an investigation taking place, it is not
appropriate for it to make subjective comments about the ‘guilt’ or ‘innocence’
of any officer or member of staff who is subject to disciplinary proceedings, until
decisions about misconduct or criminal activity have been made by the appropriate
body. We believe that any process which permits this kind of briefing should be
changed.
Unfairness
10.67 The failings which we have identified above present a picture of an organisation
acting unfairly towards one of its own officers who happens to be under investigation.
There are numerous examples, such as the scale of the investigation and the
disproportionate use of resources. No regard seems to have been had to the
welfare of Superintendent Dizaei, a senior officer who, although under investigation,
had not been found guilty of any relevant criminal or conduct offence.
“Within weeks of being served regulation 9 notices which were the most damaging namely
sexual relationships with prostitutes and unauthorised visits to the Iranian embassy they were
withdrawn without me even being questioned. By that time [redacted] had inflicted the
personal damage to my reputation as he had intended … The vagueness of the discipline
notices was deliberate and intended to keep me guessing. Eg Assault: no date, no name, no
circumstance. Just ‘Assault’. And then the allegations were dropped without a question put to
me. However the allegation appeared in every newspaper on the day of my suspension.”
(Submission of Superintendent Dizaei.)
10.68 It is undeniable that race played a considerable part in aspects of Operation
Helios. It seems that Superintendent Dizaei’s Iranian descent, and his links with the
Black Police Associations, were part of the MPS’ thinking in a number of unusual
decisions they took in the course of the case, as outlined by the independent
investigators:
“As the investigation progressed, and moved from being covert to overt several issues around
fairness based on race, arose that now need to be considered. In particular the formation of a
Gold group and the decision to arrest Superintendent Dizaei rather than to arrange a
voluntary attendance at a police station for interview cause concern.
“… The review cannot establish the justification for the formation of such groups but the issue
of Superintendent Dizaei’s race and the community cannot be ignored. The review considers
that on the balance of probability, issues around race and the community were the key drivers
for such a group being formed.” (Independent investigators’ report.)
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