The Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Police has agreed to pay a young man with learning difficulties, Gareth Williamson, £20,000 in damages and at least £50,000 in costs in recognition of a serious failure by the police to properly investigate a robbery committed on Mr Williamson in Rushden, Northants on 15 April 2007.

A detailed apology recently extended to Mr Williamson on behalf of the Chief Constable in response to a civil claim apologises for “basic errors” made by Northamptonshire officers in their investigation of Mr Williamson’s repeat robbery by local criminals.

Mr Williamson, who is 19 years of age, was mugged twice in 2007 whilst he was travelling on his moped, first in January and then in April. On both occasions thieves made off with his moped and appeared to be targeting Mr Williamson due to his learning difficulties. A successful criminal prosecution was taken against the person responsible for the January robbery. However just before Mr Williamson was due to give evidence in court against for the first robbery, he was forced off his moped a second time in April 2009 and chased into a nearby pub where customers and staff came to his aid. All of these events were captured on CCTV.

Mr Williamson and his family immediately contacted the police, not least as they were concerned that the two robberies might be linked. The response Mr Williamson received from the officer assigned to investigate the crime and his supervising officers was deeply inadequate. The Williamsons were particularly concerned that Gareth was not being treated as a reliable witness purely as a result of his mild learning difficulties and notwithstanding that his account was confirmed by witnesses in the pub and CCTV. Mr Williamson reported his concerns to Northamptonshire Police’s internal watch dog, the Professional Standards Department, who initially failed to respond to his complaint and took no steps to arrange for his attackers to be apprehended. This left Mr Williamson with no choice except to instruct solicitors to begin legal proceedings against the Chief Constable for disability discrimination and breaches of the Human Rights Act at Central London County Court in October 2007. The Professional Standards Department later partially upheld Mr Williamson’s complaint in August 2008.

In response to civil claim the Chief Constable has finally acknowledged that the investigation into the April robbery was “poor” and that the police “did not give Mr Williamson the service we should have done”. The Chief Constable has also accepted that “failings in the investigation” were not picked up by senior officers and “this failure allowed a poor investigation to continue”. In recognition of this but without making any formal admission of liability, the Chief Constable has agreed to pay Mr Williamson £20,000 in damages and £50,000 on account of costs. The full amount of costs has yet to be decided.

Gareth Williamson said as follows:

“I hope that lessons will be learned from my case so that other people with learning difficulties will be protected by the police. I was not believed because I had learning difficulties and as result the people who attacked me still have not been brought to justice. That means I got less rather than more protection from the police as a result of my learning difficulties, which cannot be right.”

Mr Williamson’s parents Alison and Mark Williamson said as follows:

“What shocked us most was that senior officers, even within the Professional Standard Department, did not treat Gareth’s concerns seriously or take steps to catch his attackers. It should not take a court case for that to happen and the people who robbed him are still out there. We hope that publicising this case will mean that other people with disabilities will receive better treatment from the police. ”

Mr Williamson’s solicitor, Tony Murphy of Bhatt Murphy solicitors said:

“The Disability Discrimination Act and the Human Rights Act required Northamptonshire police to conduct an effective investigation into the robbery on Gareth Williamson, which the police accept did not happen. This outcome shows that the police can be made accountable in the courts for failed investigations, although it should not have required litigation for the police to honour its duties to people with disabilities in Northamptonshire. Sadly I am dealing with these kinds of cases nationwide.”