A senior police officer was told his business partner was "running with the Ungis" but claimed he dismissed the tip-off as "gossip", a misconduct panel heard.
Chief Inspector Stephen Rice was described as "flying too close to the sun" by pursuing lucrative property deals. He is facing six individual charges under the Police Conduct Regulations 2012 and 2020 which could mean the end of a distinguished 24-year career in Merseyside Police.
An independent panel heard the final pieces of evidence in a complex misconduct hearing at Merseyside Police HQ today, mainly revolving around his relationship with an allegedly crooked property developer, referred to as 'Mr A' for legal reasons. Mr A was later charged with fraud as part of a major Economic Crime Team investigation dubbed Operation Benadir.
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Under questioning from Callum Cowx, the Legally Qualified Chair presiding over the hearing, Chief Insp. Rice accepted he received a text message from a woman referred to as "Ms D" in February 2019, describing Mr A as "running with the Ungis now" and asking him to not to "mention my name or I would get hurt". The panel heard the "Ungis" referred to a "prominent organised crime group".
Chief Insp. Rice promised she would be "protected as a source", and later passed the information on to another detective involved in Operation Benadir to submit an intelligence report. Mr Cowx asked "why he continued to maintain close contact even after being told Mr A was "running with a notorious gang of criminals".
Chief Insp. Rice replied: "First of all, I didn't believe what I was being told, it was not supported, certainly nothing made me think Mr A was a criminal. Certainly he was not a member of an organised crime group doing criminal work.
"For me, that information came in so I [submitted it to the force] because it was the right thing to do because of my role. My opinion of him did not change, I didn't think he was a criminal mixed up in organised crime groups; that's not what he was like."
The panel had also heard how in 2019 the officer referred to Mr A as "the watchbuyer" in a text to his brother, which the force claim was a "cypher", and joked with Mr A about "secretive" meeting in disguises such as "moustache, hat and gloves" and a "floral dress and blonde wig".
However Merseyside Police claim Chief Insp. Rice should have ceased all direct contact with Mr A years before that message was sent.
The panel heard detectives from Operation Benadir met with Chief Inspector Rice on December 17, 2017, and three officers gave statements claiming they made it plain that Mr A and a solicitor referred to as Mr C were under investigation. Chief Insp. Rice denies he was made aware of that fact during that meeting and only found out later.
James Berry, representing Merseyside Police at the hearing, delivered his closing submissions to the panel today describing the senior officer as "blatantly dishonest" about his contact with Mr A. He told the panel the central misconduct charge around the businessman boiled down to four questions:
- Was Chief Insp. Rice in contact with Mr A after December 17, 2017?
- When did he become aware that Mr A was under investigation?
- Was his contact with Mr A inappropriate?
- Was Chief Insp. Rice dishonest about his contact with Mr A?
Mr Berry said there was no dispute that there was significant direct contact between the pair from the end of 2017 until October 2019, and then via his brother until 2020.
He told the panel even if they were not convinced he had been told Mr A was a suspect at that meeting, he was certainly aware by November, 2018, when he received an email from a detective telling him "Mr A, Mr B [a financial advisor] and Mr C are all under investigation".
Mr Berry said: "Chief Inspector Rice was clearly dishonest about his contact with Mr A on two significant occasions. First, in his interview under criminal caution on March 28, 2019, he indicated he was no longer in contact with Mr A. In fact he had been in sustained contact with him and indeed met with Mr A the day before the interview in Calderstones Park.
"Second, in a notifiable persons report he submitted on December 18, 2019."
Mr Berry said in that report, which is used for officers to flag up any involvement with someone who may pose a risk to their role as a police officer, Chief Insp. Rice stated: "During the last 18 months I have become aware that the above names males [Mr A, B and C] are under investigation for fraud offences. I am aware all three males are suspected of criminality and as such I ceased dealing, contacting or speaking with them."
He told the panel: "Insofar as Mr A was concerned, that assertion was plainly untrue in light of the sustained contact Chief Insp. Rice had with him after he became aware Mr A was suspected of criminality, either on December 17, 2017, on our case, or even in early 2019 on Chief Insp. Rice's case.
"Chief Inspector Rice has sought to explain why he had contact with Mr A. What he has not been able to explain, or explain satisfactorily, is why he lied about it."
Mr Berry added: "Chief Inspector Rice is like Icarus, he has flown rather too close to the sun in terms of very attractive seeming property deals from which he could become fantastically well off, and forgetting his role as a police officer. Regrettable as it is, these are the facts."
Sarah Barlow, representing the officer, told the panel he had served his force with distinction for 24 years, had no previous misconduct rulings against him and was supported by a large number of character references.
She pointed out that no evidence whatsoever had emerged suggesting Chief Insp. Rice had passed on sensitive information about Operation Benadir to Mr A or helped him avoid prosecution. She reminded the panel that from 2016 her client was locked in an exhausting legal battle with a firm of solicitors, referred to as 'Firm 1', which had failed to register him as the owner of a large property on Linnet Lane, Aigburth, which he had bought from Mr A for £600,000.
During his evidence to the panel, Chief Insp. Rice had suggested the "stress and pressure" of losing that property, plus the news that he was being investigated by the anti-corruption unit, had led to him "making mistakes" on his notifiable persons report and in his criminal interview.
Ms Barlow said: "He’s told you repeatedly and it’s quite understandable the pressure he was under. He was living day by day, not looking at the overall context his life was in…He’s quite candid in his acceptance he did continue contact, what he tells you is that was not a deliberate lie."
She added: "It’s because he simply got it wrong, not deliberately and intentionally."
- Chief Inspector Rice also denies submitting a pre-written dissertation he bought from a company called UK Essays to pass a Master's course in police leadership from Liverpool Hope University
- He denied he knowingly spoke to a prisoner, called Craig Wright, who was using an illicit mobile phone while negotiating over damage to a shop caused by flooding from a rental flat he owned
- He denies looking up two convicted criminals, Desmond Bayliss and Jordan O'Rourke, on a police intelligence database for a "non-policing reason"
The independent panel retired to consider their decision on whether the charges have been proven on the balance of probabilities. If so, there will be a further hearing to decide what sanction Chief Insp. Rice will face, including whether he should face immediate dismissal.
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