Three police officers caught up in the “plebgate” row have apologised for “poor judgment in talking to the media” after a meeting with former Tory chief whip Andrew Mitchell.
Inspector Ken MacKaill, Detective Sergeant Stuart Hinton and Sergeant Chris Jones were spared misconduct proceedings by an internal police investigation after they were accused of trying to discredit the politician.
But the Independent Police Complaints Commisison (IPCC) later disputed the West Mercia Police investigation’s findings and said there were issues of “honesty and integrity” among the three Police Federation representatives.
In a statement issued by the Police Federation, the three officers fell short of apologising for the comments they made but insisted they never intended to mislead anyone.
It said: “The reputation of, and public confidence in, the police service is of immense concern to each of us.
“We acknowledge the investigation’s criticism relating to our poor judgment in talking to the media following the meeting with Andrew Mitchell, for which we take this opportunity to apologise.
“We would like to emphasise – as we did to the investigation – that in no way did any of us ever plan or intend to mislead anyone about what occurred during this meeting or otherwise.”