Scotland Yard finally releases new CCTV footage revealing Andrew Mitchell’s controversial encounter with police – now known as the “plebgate” incident – from the other side of Downing Street.
Video: Playlist of CCTV clips released by Operation Alice
Unlike CCTV footage of the incident that was first broadcast by Channel 4 News/Dispatches in December 2012, some of the new clips released by the Metropolitan Police were filmed from the other side of Whitehall, facing the entrance to Downing Street.
One of these clips shows former chief Andrew Mitchell cycling to the gates, stopping on his bike and talking to four police officers directly in front of the Downing Street gates. The CCTV clips were uploaded to a Youtube playlist here.
The concluding report of the police investigation into the incident, Operation Alice, has also been published on Monday.
The new footage and report will shed more light on the controversial exchange between Mr Mitchell and police officers outside Downing Street, that caused Mr Mitchell to lose his job at the time, several police officers to be sacked, and one to be sentenced to a year in prison. However PC Toby Rowland, the officer who accused Mr Mitchell of speaking the key “plebgate” phrase, has not been prosecuted.
An accompanying statement was also released with the report, which read: “Ultimately four police officers have been dismissed from the MPS, one of whom was sent to prison. Every serving police officer has cause to feel let down by those colleagues who fall below the standards we all strive to uphold.”
Andrew Mitchell ‘plebgate’ row – the key questions
According to a police log leaked to the Telegraph in September 2012, Mr Mitchell told the police to “learn your f****** place”; that they didn’t “run this f****** government”, and perhaps most damaging, that they were “f****** plebs”.
The allegations eventually led to Mr Mitchell being forced to resign on 22 October. He admitted swearing, but said that he had never called a police officer a “pleb” or a “moron”.
However a few months later, Channel 4 News/Dispatches revealed the first CCTV footage of the exchange which case doubt on the account in police logs.
In January this year, Police Constable Keith Wallis pleaded guilty to misconduct in the a public office and was later given a sentence of one year. Three other police officers were dismissed from their jobs.
“The conviction of Keith Wallis is good news for Andrew Mitchell, but it still doesn’t clear his name” – read more from Political Correspondent Michael Crick on the questions on plebgate that still remain
The original email was revealed by Channel 4 News on 19 December 2012, and investigating officers later established that the email signatory, Mr Wallis, was a serving police officer, but had not made this clear to Mr Randall.
As part of Operation Alice, over 1,000 statements were taken, 439 exhibits seized and 78 relevant documents examined, said a statement released to accompany the report.
Scotland Yard release new Plebgate CCTV footage at last http://t.co/66ktKoxEum
— Michael Crick (@MichaelLCrick) September 1, 2014
Met have also released six documents on Plebgate
— Michael Crick (@MichaelLCrick) September 1, 2014