DAFYDD HUGHES SAYS HE WAS ASSAULTED IN DECEMBER 2018 FOLLOWING COLLUSION BETWEEN MEMBERS OF A LOCAL HUNT AND A POLICE TEAM OPERATING A DRONE IN THE AREA
THE COMPLAINT REPORT BY NORTH WALES POLICE ABOUT THE INCIDENT FAILED TO IDENTIFY ANY OFFICERS IN THE AREA USING A DRONE
EXCLUSIVE INFORMATION HAS SHOWN THAT NORTH WALES POLICE HAD AN UP-TO-DATE RECORD OF DRONE OPERATORS THAT CONTRADICTED FINDINGS OF THE COMPLAINT REPORT.
By Mark S Redfern @genericredfern
A key detail in North Wales Police’s account of an assault on a hunt saboteur has been proven false by their own records, facts obtained through the Freedom of Information Act have shown.
Dafydd Hughes, an activist with North Wales Hunt Saboteurs, was monitoring the Flint and Denbigh Hunt near Ruthin in December 2018 when he saw a team of officers from North Wales Police operating a drone in the area.
Officers manning the drone tipped-off hunt members that a minibus of saboteur’s were approaching, a senior member of the hunt admitted in court. Following information being passed between police officers and hunt members as to the whereabouts of Dafydd Hughes and his fellow activists, a confrontation occurred shortly afterwards in which Hughes says he was assaulted.
However, in the resulting North Wales Police complaint report the investigator could not find a record of the drone operators working that day who could have passed information to members of the hunt.
The report makes their findings clear: “Despite enquiries with drone operators and duties I have been unable to identify a drone operator and/or spotter who was working at the time.”
Yet a request filed under the Freedom of Information Act contradicted the findings of North Wales Police, showing that at the time and place of the hunt there were: “Two officers with the drone Pilot and a drone Pilot’s assistant.”
This contradiction shows a clear lack of care and attention in North Wales Police’s accountability process, Hughes told voice.wales.
Hughes said: “I saw the drone operator there, then it comes back on the report that there were no drone operators in the area. The FOI Act request proves that there was… Surely the police have a register of where all police officers are on what date.”
“The police are clearly on the hunt’s side. When I found out the drone operator had phoned up the hunt to say we were in the area, I mean the police had never once phoned me and said the hunt are over there.”
Temp/ Assistant Chief Constable Nigel Harrison told voice.wales in a statement: “As far as the use of drones is concerned we have on occasions used them as part of our operational plan to manage our response during events.”
“Police drone use in north Wales was in its infancy in 2018 and since then we have developed understanding across the organisation of how deployments are recorded.”
The complaint has been escalated to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Their spokesperson told voice.wales: “We have received an investigation appeal regarding the handling of a complaint against North Wales Police.”
“Our role is to independently review the decisions and actions of the police, not to re-investigate the complaint. The appeal is awaiting allocation and we will keep the complainant and the force informed of our progress.”
