Cheshire Police have just splatted themselves in the face with a large custard pie. One part of their large bureaucracy foolishly denied something to me before Christmas. Now another part of that same bureaucracy has revealed that this denial was, er, rather too firm. I try to be polite at all times. Why did this happen? I think many of the people who put Lucy Letby in prison are starting to have serious doubts about her guilt. That does not mean they are ready to admit that they did a bad thing, one of the hardest tasks in the world.
But it does mean that they have begun to act like bad losers, petty and unfair. I suspect that some of them are now afraid of the truth, unwilling to face it and losing touch with it. Some of the reasons for my belief will have to wait for my memoirs. But others won't. Readers may recall the nationwide police tantrum directed against me a few months ago. This outburst made me worry still more about the briefing. If it was harmless, why were they so angry that it had been criticised in a national newspaper?
Why did they refuse to give me a recording of it? They are still refusing to do so. They claim this would somehow prejudice a supposed 'ongoing investigation'. How can this be? The briefing was about two trials which ended long ago. If the police really do have new things to probe, they weren't covered in this briefing. Despite some questioning of Ms Letby in prison, there has as yet been no arrest or charge. I think many of the people who put Lucy Letby in prison are starting to have serious doubts about her guilt, writes Peter Hitchens.
It is also absurd to say that a press briefing was secret. Just a bit of friendly advice to anyone out there: If you want to keep a secret, don't tell it to a room full of journalists. So let's put this simply. If it is wrong to tell me what happened, it was wrong to hold the briefing. If it was right to hold the briefing, then it is wrong to refuse to tell me what happened. And then, kaboom! I'd learned before Christmas that the reporters bidden to the meeting had been asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement NDA.
They both swiftly replied 'No'. No hedging or qualification, just 'No'. Then last Wednesday, Cheshire Police's Data Protection Adviser told me: 'Attendees were required to sign a disclaimer form agreeing to adhere to specific reporting conditions as such information was not placed in the public domain. They had to sign it to get in. By doing so, they agreed not to disclose certain things.
