Tribunal judge accuses former inspector of ‘deliberate falsehood’ at hearing

A highly-decorated officer with a string of commendations to his name has been accused of lying to an employment tribunal – by providing bogus paperwork. Employment tribunal judge Christopher Gaskell described former Inspector Jaswant Singh’s dossier as a “serious, deliberate and calculated falsehood”. He and his panel also branded the 48-year-old ex-officer as a “highly unsatisfactory witness whose evidence was, at times, confused and inconsistent”. Mr Singh, with close on a quarter of a century police service to his name, provided his own Major Incident Policy Document – a personal log of a missing person investigation that turned into a murder case. The former officer did so as part of claims that he suffered race discrimination at the hands of West Midlands Police (WMP) and was subject to detrimental treatment for making whistleblowing allegations. In a judgment outlining his reasons for dismissing Mr Singh’s complaint, Mr Gaskell said the document was “false and a recent fabrication”. The front page of the log describes the June 2014 incident as a murder investigation. Yet when it was opened by Mr Singh, the case was a merely a ‘missing persons’ inquiry. And he pointed out that Mr Singh had made no mention of the document’s existence while under cross-examination, yet provided it on the eighth day of the hearing. “The claimant could provide no satisfactory explanation for having failed to disclose the document earlier in the proceedings, stating that he was unaware that it was in his possession until his brother happened to find it over the weekend of July 1/2, 2016, during the tribunal hearing,” said Mr Gaskell. The judge’s rebuke was the final condemnation of Mr Singh who joined the force in 1991 and was promoted to inspector in 2004 after receiving five commander commendations. He also gained a diploma in public service leadership and, in 2005, was nominated in the Criminal Justice Awards for an ‘outstanding contribution to engaging communities’. But in November 2015, a WMP misconduct panel recommended dismissal for failing in his duties during violence at a Stourbridge pizza parlour. Mr Singh told back-up to “take their time” while colleagues made urgent calls for help during the 2014 disturbance, then lied to cover his failings. He told colleagues to “calm down” despite a fellow officer warning over the radio that the scene was “going off like a bottle of pop”, the panel heard. Chairman, Assistant Chief Constable Carl Foulkes, said: “The panel is satisfied he deliberately lied to cover up his own failings on the night, and in doing so impugned the reputation of his colleagues. His actions fell well short of what could reasonably be expected of an officer of his rank and experience.” The ex-officer’s employment case for racial discrimination, victimisation and detriment took place in the summer, lasted more than a week and involved 14 police witnesses and 3,000 pages of evidence. The outcome has only recently been released to the press. In his judgment, Mr Gaskell stated: “There was one aspect of the claimant’s evidence which we find was a serious, deliberate and calculated falsehood intended to mislead the tribunal. “This relates to the claimant’s production on the eighth day of the hearing of a document – a Major Incident Policy document – not previously disclosed. “The document produced by the claimant related to the investigation into the disappearance of an elderly woman on, or around, June 28, 2014. “Her disappearance had been reported by her family during the early hours of the morning. Later her body was found, and she had been murdered. “Following the investigation there was a successful prosecution and conviction. “The claimant had come on duty at 7am. The previous duty inspector had been Inspector Sarah Galloway. “She is one of the comparators relied on by the claimant and it is his case that she seriously underperformed in the early stages of the missing person investigation. “Evidence given by Chief Inspector Hadley