High Court challenge by Les Balkwell against Essex Police (BBC News 4 Feb 2022)

by **Tony Bennett** 04.02.22 23:09

Essex concrete mixer death: Father mounts High Court challenge

Published18 hours ago

High Court challenge by Les Balkwell against Essex Police (BBC News 4 Feb 2022) _107930190_balkwell2

Image caption,
Lee Balkwell, 33, died in July 2002, at an Essex farm, after suffering multiple injuries

The father of a man found dead in a concrete mixer has claimed he may have been "deliberately killed", the High Court heard.
Lee Balkwell's body was discovered at Baldwins Farm in South Ockendon, Essex, in the early hours of 18 July 2002.
His father Les Balkwell wants judges to order a new independent investigation into the death.
Essex Police's decision not to reinvestigate it was "unlawful" and "irrational", the court was told.

High Court challenge by Les Balkwell against Essex Police (BBC News 4 Feb 2022) _86140871_86140174

High Court challenge by Les Balkwell against Essex Police (BBC News 4 Feb 2022) _86140871_86140174

Les Balkwell, 75, has campaigned for the investigation into his son's death to be reopened

Lorry driver Lee Balkwell was found with his head and shoulders wedged between the drum and chassis of the concrete mixer lorry that he had been employed to drive.
The court was told that his father claimed to have "intelligence" that his son may have been "punished over a drug deal".
He has secured a pathologist's report which allegedly provides evidence the 33-year-old was "likely dead before he was crushed", according to court documents.

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It concluded "there is strong evidence of staging of the scene in an attempt to make... Lee's death appear to be an accident", according to Kirsty Brimelow QC, representing Les Balkwell.
She told the court that Essex Police approached the death as a "tragic accident" and "closed its mind to the possibility of murder".
This was before an inquest in 2008 ruled he had been unlawfully killed, the court was told.
John Beggs QC, representing Essex Police, acknowledged the failings of the force's original investigation, but said "no new intelligence" had been received since a Kent Police review between 2012 and 2014.
"If there were a realistic prospect that further investigative steps would be productive, then the defendant would, enthusiastically, take those steps. Sadly, there is no such prospect," he said.
In 2012, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (since replaced by the Independent Office for Police Conduct) found Essex Police's investigation was "seriously flawed", but found no evidence of corruption.
Essex Police apologised and paid compensation to Lee Balkwell's family over failings in its original investigation.
His employer was found not guilty of unlawful killing by gross negligence in 2014, but was convicted of failing to discharge his duty under health and safety regulations.
Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Bennathan are expected to deliver their High Court judgment at a later date.

ETA:
Lee Balkwell death may have been staged, High Court told

By Alex Gidden @AlexGidden11Reporter

High Court challenge by Les Balkwell against Essex Police (BBC News 4 Feb 2022) 13442475

Driver found dead in cement mixer 'may have been killed deliberately', says dad

A lorry driver found dead in a cement mixer may have been “deliberately killed” and the scene of his death “staged”, his grieving father has claimed in a High Court challenge.
Lee Balkwell, 33, was found with his head and shoulders wedged between the drum and chassis of the machine at Baldwins Farm in South Ockendon, Essex, in the early hours of July 18, 2002.
His father, Les Balkwell, has spent nearly two decades campaigning for greater investigation into his son’s death, claiming he was murdered and accusing the police of corruption.

The 75-year-old is bringing a High Court challenge against Essex Police over the force’s decisions to close and not to reopen an investigation into his son’s death, which he claims were “unlawful” and “irrational”.
Mr Balkwell claims to have “intelligence”, including that his son may have been “punished” over someone else’s “drugs deal”, and wants senior judges to order a new independent investigation into his death.

Working with private investigators, he has secured a pathologist’s report which allegedly provides evidence that Lee was “likely dead before he was crushed”, according to court documents.
Essex Police described Lee’s death as a “tragic accident” at the time of the incident, before an inquest in 2008 ruled he had been unlawfully killed.
Following some 130 complaints by his father, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) – since replaced by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) – concluded in a 2012 report that the Essex Police investigation was “seriously flawed”, but found no evidence of corruption.
It came after a 2009 to 2010 review by West Midlands Police which made more than 90 recommendations about further action that should be taken.
Essex Police has apologised, made admissions and paid compensation to Lee’s family over failings in its original investigation.

In 2014, his employer at Upminster Concrete, Simon Bromley, was found not guilty of unlawful killing by gross negligence but was convicted of failing to discharge his duty under health and safety regulations.

Kirsty Brimelow QC, for Les Balkwell, told a hearing in London on Thursday, that he had progressed his case “through his own sheer determination” after a “very hard battle” and following the “systematically flawed” work of Essex Police.
In written arguments, she said the force had approached Lee’s death as a “tragic accident from the start and closed its mind to the possibility of murder”.
The barrister added: “The death of Lee Balkwell has never been subjected to a full murder investigation.
“Witnesses have not been spoken to in the context of a murder investigation; new intelligence has not been sought… holes in the evidence have not been attempted to be filled; suspicious matters inconsistent with accepted narratives have gone unchallenged and uninvestigated.”
According to a report by Dr Dick Shepherd, there were “no pathological features that would support the hypothesis that Lee Balkwell was alive at the time of compression”, Ms Brimelow said.
Dr Shepherd concluded that “there is strong evidence of staging of the scene in an attempt to make… Lee’s death appear to be an accident”.

John Beggs QC, representing Essex Police, acknowledged the force’s original investigation failings in his written arguments.
He said “painstaking work” by an operation by Kent Police between 2012 and 2014 had led to the prosecution of Simon Bromley and “no new intelligence” has been received since its review.
Mr Beggs described the suggestion that new witnesses may be located or others change their position as “speculative”.
“If there were a realistic prospect that further investigative steps would be productive, then the defendant would, enthusiastically, take those steps: sadly, there is no such prospect,” he said.
Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Bennathan are expected to deliver their judgment at a later date.

by **PeterMac** 05.02.22 7:25

Mr Bennett.
Well done Sir.

The quest for justice is endless.
And how telling that your three big cases all involve the same suspicion –

That the scene was staged