Police Federation chief accuses Lawrence inquiry team of bias

THE TEAM carrying out the Stephen Lawrence inquiry is biased against the police, according to the man who represents the vast majority of officers in England and Wales.

Fred Broughton, chairman of the Police Federation, last night accused the four-man inquiry board of appearing not to be seeking the truth. He also warned fellow officers that the final report would not be as balanced as the Scarman inquiry into the 1981 Brixton riots.

The lawyer representing the family of Stephen, the black teenager who was stabbed to death in south London in 1993, condemned the comments as a crude attempt to "rubbish" what is almost certainly to be highly critical report on British policing.

Mr Broughton gave evidence to the inquiry on 1 October, and he noted: "Most worrying was the attitude of the members of the inquiry team.

"We did not get the impression that we were giving evidence to impartial examiners, seekers after the truth. Some members seemed more intent on scoring plus points from the people in the audience who were barracking and sneering at everything we said."

The comments by Mr Broughton, who represents rank-and-file officers up to the level of superintendent, are certain to anger both campaigners for the Lawrence family and the inquiry team, which includes a former judge and a bishop.

Speaking in London at a conference to discuss police pay and conditions Mr Broughton added: "I warn you now, do not expect to find the report of the Lawrence inquiry will be as balanced and as positive as the Scarman report."

He continued: "The police are willing to go down the road towards understanding, but are those who claim to speak for the ethnic minority communities? Some are, many are not."

The four-strong investigation team is chaired by Sir William Macpherson of Cluny, a former judge who has dealt with many judicial review cases. The other members of the inquiry team are the Bishop of Stepney, the Rt Rev John Sentamu; Tom Cook, former deputy chief constable of West Yorkshire and a police expert on race relations; and Richard Stone, chairman of the Jewish Council for Racial Equality.

Mr Broughton argued that the inquiry and media coverage of the case dwelt on the negative aspects of policing. "No one wants to know about the insults, the spitting, the ambushes, and the total opposition to every attempt to enforce the law. No one, it seems at the moment, cares that the criminal elements in the ethnic communities use police racism as the stock response to their own criminal behaviour.

"And the sad truth, is, that to point these things out, is to run the risk of being accused of being racist."

Imran Khan, the solicitor, representing the parents of Stephen Lawrence said last night: "It appears that the police are worried that the inquiry is going to produce a damning report and they are trying to rubbish it before it is published."

A spokesperson for the inquiry team was unavailable.