Thursday 7 February 2008

J7 EXCLUSIVE: Peter Power Dorset Police Suspension & the DPP File

On July 7th 2005, Peter Power was running a terror exercise which, in his own words that evening, was "based on simultaneous bombs going off precisely at the railway stations where it happened this morning, so I still have the hairs on the back of my neck standing upright!". He has since refused to give a more detailed account of his activities that day, for some reason believing that the commercial interests of his client, which require confidentiality, are more important than the public interest in incidents which resulted in many deaths and injuries. Disappointingly, the media appears to share that belief as it has not insisted on him making a credible full disclosure. Instead, it continues to present him with regular opportunities to propagate his views on such matters as the necessity of a 90 day detention period.

J7 has discovered, though, that Peter Power was once the subject of a file passed to the Director of Public Prosecution as a result of an investigation by Dorset Police. This is all the more remarkable because, at the time, Peter Power was a Superintendent in the Dorset Police Force! Read the full story here. He retired from Dorset Police, which had suspended him on full pay, on the grounds of ill health before any decision was taken by the DPP on whether to act upon the file.

This information dates from 1993, before the Internet was as commonplace as it is today. It is not online, so J7 is grateful for the services provided by public libraries and archives. It is a salient reminder of the importance of these services, which are increasingly under attack.

One argument used by the BBC Conspiracy Files to persuade J7 to participate in its programme (J7 refused) was that it was the same team as produced Panorama. This argument is substantially weakened by the failure of the Panorama team to investigate Peter Power's credentials. For its "London Under Attack" programme it provided the following incorrect biography:

PETER POWER
Crisis management specialist & government adviser
Visor consulting 1995- present
Director BET Group Security 1992-1994
Senior Officer Metropolitan Police 1971-1992

Peter Power was in fact working for Dorset Police 1990-1993.

J7 asks:

  • What is the explanation for the incorrect biographical information supplied for the Panorama programme "London Under Attack"?
  • Is there evidence for the claims made by Peter Power about his involvement in the Brixton riots, the Libyan embassy siege, the Oxford Circus fire and the Kings Cross fire?
  • Was Peter Power prosecuted as a result of the Dorset Police investigation?
  • Is Peter Power still receiving an ill health pension from Dorset Police, at the same time as he is very actively pursuing a consultancy career?
  • Why, in view of his apparently glittering career and obvious appetite for self publicity, with every prospect of attaining one of the top positions in the Met, did Peter Power transfer to Dorset?

Not forgetting:

  • What precisely was the exercise undertaken on 7th July 2005, and which organisations were involved?