Les Balkwell WINS £40,000 High Court settlement from Essex Police - and lands a blow against Essex CC Stephen Kavanagh's chances of becoming the next Met Police Commissioner (Times 13 Dec 2016)

by **Tony Bennett** 13.12.16 19:58

Les Balkwell is pleased tonight to announce to members and guests of CMOMM that he has today accepted the sum of £40,000 in full and final settlement of his claim against Essex Police under the Human Rights Act, for its admitted failure to conduct an effective investigation into the death his son Lee on 18 July 2002.

Thus ends another milestone on his long journey towards all the truth and justice for Lee. To get this far has taken him over 14 years or, to be precise, 5,262 days so far.

Les had claimed the maximum he was allowed, £50,000, under County Court rules, and decided to accept the sum of £40,000 after he won an earlier High Court ruling compelling Essex Police to disclose 40 sets of documents they had hitherto kept secret from Les and his advisers.

In making this announcement Les has asked me to publicly thank Jill Havern for opening up this section on CMOMM to publicise his fight for the truth, and to thank every member here who has sent a message of support and encouragement to him on the various threads here.

The Times newspaper broke the story today, and that part of it which is not hidden behind the Times paywall is reproduced below.

It seems Les has also struck a blow against the hopes of the current Chief Constable of Essex, Stephen Kavanagh, of replacing Bernard Hogan-Howe as Met Police Commissioner when he retires in February. Les has tasked me with pursuing with Devon and Cornwall Police a number of complaints he made to the Independent Police Complaints Commission about Stephen Kavanagh earlier this year. In particular, Les has documentary proof that Stephen Kavanagh was complicit in the refusals of Essex and Kent Police to take a statement from a whistleblower who, as a former Essex Police Intelligence Officer, had supplied information to Les that his son had been murdered and that there had been a cover-up organised at the very highest levels of Essex Police.

Les has specifically authorised me to inform members and guests here that he has for some months been assisted by several members of a team of former Met Police homicide detectives who are now conducting a private investigation on Les's behalf, independent of Essex and Kent Police forces - who have previously conducted a series of failed reviews on the case - and independent of any other police forces.

Finally he wishes to publicly thank the legal team from Doughty Street Chambers and his solicitors for bringing home this major result for him.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/police-chief-refused-to-act-over-gang-murder-cover-up-96l852fqv

Tuesday December 13 2016

Police chief ‘refused to act over gang murder cover-up’

Michael Gillard | Alex Varley-Winter

December 13 2016, 12:01am, The Times

Stephen Kavanagh is expected to be in the running for the Met’s top job

Les Balkwell WINS £40,000 High Court settlement from Essex Police - and lands a blow against Essex CC Stephen Kavanagh's chances of becoming the next Met Police Commissioner (Times 13 Dec 2016) Stephe10

Les Balkwell WINS £40,000 High Court settlement from Essex Police - and lands a blow against Essex CC Stephen Kavanagh's chances of becoming the next Met Police Commissioner (Times 13 Dec 2016) Stephe10

One of the frontrunners for British policing’s biggest job is being investigated for allegedly failing to examine claims that corrupt officers covered up a suspected gangland murder.

Stephen Kavanagh, the Chief Constable of Essex police, who is expected to apply to run Scotland Yard, was served with notice of a misconduct investigation after a complaint by the family of a 33-year-old man killed on a farm linked to drug and gun crime.

Lee Balkwell’s crushed body was found in July 2002 between the drum and chassis of a cement mixer that he drove for Simon Bromley, of Baldwin’s farm in South Ockendon, Essex.

Mr Kavanagh, who moved from the Met to lead Essex police in 2013, signed off a £40,000 payout yesterday to settle the…

by Verdi 13.12.16 21:01

'Mighty oaks from little acorns grow'

That's the only way to tackle any injustice in the world - start from the bottom and work up to the top.

Just goes to show the imbalance in the UK justice system when one such as Les Balkwell has to privately fight tooth and nail to expose the UK's corrupt system for a settlement of 40,000k, when the likes of the McCanns can rake in a cool 550,000k because some beastly UK press conglomerate said nasty things about them - and that was only one incident.

Congratulations Les Balkwell and Tony Bennett and whoever else that contributed towards this monumental victory! What a gratifying Christmas present - warms the cockles of yer heart!

You have my undying respect and admiration.

ETA: Profound apologies for the incorrect spelling of name - now corrected.

by **Jill Havern** 13.12.16 21:14

Well done Les and Tony!

What an extraordinary, and totally unnecessary, fight Les has had on his hands for the past 14 years - it's disgusting actually. The Police should be ashamed of themselves for putting Les and his family through this excruciating ordeal.

I'm very glad that CMOMM was able to help.

Now then, I wonder if those former MET homicide detectives would care to take a look at the Madeleine McCann case...

by Carrry On Doctor 13.12.16 22:02

Tony Bennett wrote:Snipped

Les has specifically authorised me to inform members and guests here that he has for some months been assisted by several members of a team of former Met Police homicide detectives who are now conducting a private investigation on Les's behalf, independent of Essex and Kent Police forces - who have previously conducted a series of failed reviews on the case - and independent of any other police forces.

Snipped

Maybe some of their enraged former colleagues - still in service at the Met - gave so generously to Leanne Baulchs' crowdfunding appeal for GA ?

Congratulations Tony on your relentless quest for justice.

by **Tony Bennett** 13.12.16 22:12

Get'emGonçalo wrote:Now then, I wonder if those former MET homicide detectives would care to take a look at the Madeleine McCann case...

Probably not, the Lee Balkwell private investigation is a deep one and will take time and hard work.

But the two cases are in a sense connected - if only by a common thread of senior Met Police and Essex officers covering up what really happened.

It was back in early 2007 that I first began helping Les - during the weeks before the McCann family travelled first to Donegal and then to Praia da Luz.

It was during those early weeks that I came across the first act of corruption - the first of many - in the Balkwell case. Whilst Les Balkwell was giving evidence to DC Ian Rayner at Brentwood Murder Investigation Unit, Rayner's mobile rang. On the line was a Mr Derrick Bines, a retired Met Police officer. Weeks before, Bines had been appointed as the Coroner's Officer, on a recommendation to Mrs Beasley-Murray, the Coroner, by Det Supt Graeme Bull, then the Criminal Justice Officer for Essex Police. On 30 January 2012, the IPCC found Bull guilty of thirteen separate acts of misconduct in the Balkwell case.

The 'phone conversation between Bines and Rayner was loud enough for Les Balkwell to overhear Bines say to Rayner: "I'm going to run the Lee Balkwell inquest as a tragic accident". This was a wholly improper thing to suggest. Les and his then solicitors Linn and Associates complained bitterly, and successfully. DC Rayner, to give him his due, confirmed Bines's outrageous statement. The inquest, due to be heard the following week, had to be cancelled and postponed for six months, forcing Les to spend thousand of pounds extra on barristers' fees. There was a second lengthy adjournment, costing Les more thousands, before, eventually, in February 2008, the inquest jury returned a unanimous homicide verdict.

Since I wrote my now-banned book on the McCann case, '60 Reasons', and was found guilty of contempt of court for breaches of an undertaking, many wise heads have told Les: "Have nothing to do with Tony Bennett - his actions in the McCann case will only harm you".

But who knows. One day there might be a team of former Operation Grange officers who will break ranks and tell the truth

by plebgate 15.12.16 17:34

Well done all involved. Very well done.

Les Balkwell WINS £40,000 High Court settlement from Essex Police - and lands a blow against Essex CC Stephen Kavanagh's chances of becoming the next Met Police Commissioner (Times 13 Dec 2016)

Les Balkwell WINS £40,000 High Court settlement from Essex Police - and lands a blow against Essex CC Stephen Kavanagh's chances of becoming the next Met Police Commissioner (Times 13 Dec 2016)

Amelie McCann (aged 2): "Maddie's jammies!".

Re: Les Balkwell WINS £40,000 High Court settlement from Essex Police - and lands a blow against Essex CC Stephen Kavanagh's chances of becoming the next Met Police Commissioner (Times 13 Dec 2016)

Re: Les Balkwell WINS £40,000 High Court settlement from Essex Police - and lands a blow against Essex CC Stephen Kavanagh's chances of becoming the next Met Police Commissioner (Times 13 Dec 2016)

Re: Les Balkwell WINS £40,000 High Court settlement from Essex Police - and lands a blow against Essex CC Stephen Kavanagh's chances of becoming the next Met Police Commissioner (Times 13 Dec 2016)

Re: Les Balkwell WINS £40,000 High Court settlement from Essex Police - and lands a blow against Essex CC Stephen Kavanagh's chances of becoming the next Met Police Commissioner (Times 13 Dec 2016)

Amelie McCann (aged 2): "Maddie's jammies!".

Re: Les Balkwell WINS £40,000 High Court settlement from Essex Police - and lands a blow against Essex CC Stephen Kavanagh's chances of becoming the next Met Police Commissioner (Times 13 Dec 2016)

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