Former arms dealer to sue police (From Gazette & Herald)

Former arms dealer to sue police

PETER Bleach - who spent eight years in an Indian prison after being convicted of an illegal arms deal - is to sue North Yorkshire Police using thousands of pounds of taxpayers' cash.

The former arms dealer said he will serve a writ for damages on Chief Constable Della Cannings, and also Home Secretary Charles Clarke, in a bid to clear his name after being granted legal aid.

Bleach, a former pupil of St Peter's School, York, who lives near Pickering, was jailed for life in 1995 for "waging war" against India after he and his Latvian crew were alleged to have parachuted rifles, grenades and rocket launchers to terrorists in West Bengal.

After two pleas to be pardoned were rejected, he was finally freed on health grounds in June 2004.

But he has claimed that he tipped off North Yorkshire Police about the deal in advance and that he was told to proceed with it.

He said: "All I am wanting is a public acknowledgement that I acted throughout the whole affair in good faith."

Ryedale MP John Greenway said: "I am quite sure they would not have agreed to this (to grant legal aid) if they did not think there was a case. Some people would ask why are they doing this, but the seriousness of the allegations is such that it might be best for this matter to be brought to court.

"All the way through this matter, there have been suspicions that something was not right. It may be there's no other way to clear up this matter completely - not just for him, but for officers against whom allegations have been made and who would say they should be exonerated."

Bleach claimed he had only ever wanted to help the authorities to foil the arms drop, which took place in West Bengal 10 years ago last month.

"Those arms were intended for terrorists to kill innocent people, and I've seen what terrorists can do in Northern Ireland," said Bleach, who served in the province decades ago in the Intelligence Corps.

He claimed he gave North Yorkshire Police full information about the operation in advance, speaking three times to officers in the autumn of 1995, and then fully expected the Indian authorities to mount a sting operation to catch the perpetrators.

But the drop went ahead. "How can it happen that a terrorist incident is reported to the police, and nothing is done?" he asked.

He claimed that after he was eventually detained along with the Latvian air crew, and later put on trial in Calcutta for his part in the drop, the force gave inaccurate information to the court, allowing him to be convicted of conspiracy to wage war.

"It was a long time before they (the police) would even confirm I had spoken to them at all," he claimed.

"If they had admitted it when I was first detained, I would never have been put on trial."

He claimed that even after the force made the admission, it implied he had been spoken to as a result of an investigation - when he had contacted the authorities to tell them about the proposed arms drop.

He said that the Latvians were released by the Indian government following an appeal by Russian president Vladimir Putin. But after Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Prime Minister Tony Blair had made a similar appeal on his behalf, the Indian government had initially turned them down, citing the evidence given by the force.

Bleach, now 54, was finally freed after further pressure from the British Government.

He revealed that TB which had gone untreated in prison for two years had caused permanent damage to his lungs, and he was now registered as incapacitated until at least 2009.

Bleach said that a complaint against the force, lodged with the Police Complaints Authority by supporters in 2003 before he was released, had still not been settled by its successor body, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

He said he would be able to sue for damages after recently being granted legal aid. He stressed that the writ would go to the Chief Constable and Home Secretary as the current heads of the respective organisations.

A force spokesman said: "We await hearing from him."

An IPCC spokesman said: "As far as the IPCC was aware, the complaint had been dealt with to the satisfaction of Mr Bleach by North Yorkshire Police.

"However, we have subsequently been made aware that that is no longer the case, and we have asked North Yorkshire Police whether they want to look at the complaint again."

Stuart Hanley, of York solicitors Langleys, said that if the matter went to a full trial, the costs would run into tens of thousands of pounds - but less if the matter was resolved more speedily.

Updated: 15:24 Wednesday, January 18, 2006