'Plebgate' police officers face misconduct hearings

Andrew Mitchell resigned as chief whip over the "plebgate" affair

Two police officers face misconduct hearings over the "plebgate" affair involving ex-chief whip Andrew Mitchell, the police watchdog has said.

Insp Ken Mackaill and Det Sgt Stuart Hinton are accused of gross misconduct over accounts they gave of a meeting with Mr Mitchell, and could be sacked if the disciplinary charges are proved.

The meeting followed claims the Tory MP called police "plebs", which he denied.

Another officer, Sgt Chris Jones, has been cleared of misconduct.

Det Sgt Hinton is from Warwickshire Police, Insp Mackaill works for West Mercia Police and Sgt Jones for West Midlands police.

Downing Street row

All three officers, who are Police Federation representatives in the Midlands, met the Conservative MP at his Sutton Coldfield constituency office in October 2012 to find out what he had said during a row in Downing Street.

It followed reports he had sworn at officers and called them "plebs" for refusing to let him cycle though the street's main gate.

After the meeting the men told the media Mr Mitchell had not given a full account of the incident and called for him to resign.

But a recording of the meeting cast doubt on what they had said.

Chris Jones (left), Stuart Hinton (centre) and Ken Mackaill (right) are seen leaving the meeting with Mr Mitchell

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) then launched an investigation over allegations they gave misleading accounts of the meeting.

On Monday, Carl Gumsley, IPCC commissioner, directed Warwickshire Police to hold a misconduct hearing for Det Sgt Hinton.

This was after the force declined to follow Mr Gumsley's earlier recommendation that there was a case to answer.

West Mercia Police decided, in line with Mr Gumsley's opinion, that Insp Mackaill has a case to answer for gross misconduct.

Libel case

In 2014, a High Court judge rejected a libel case brought by Mr Mitchell against the Sun newspaper, concluding that "on the balance of probabilities" he had called a police officer a "pleb".

Mr Mitchell has accepted he used bad language but said he had not used that particular word.

He paid £300,000 in legal costs after losing the case.

Last year, the High Court described a misconduct investigation into the actions of the trio as "lamentable" saying there was a "series of errors and irregularities".

The case was then referred back to the IPCC.