The Met Police inquiry

OPERATION ADAKO, as this murder case was codenamed, was set up in August 2005 under the command of Mark Kandiah, Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) of the Metropolitan Police murder squad covering the Ilford, Essex area.
 

Because more than eight years elapsed between the time of the incident and the Old Bailey trial in late 2013, the case was investigated by two different teams of murder detectives.

Stage 1

The following police officers were involved in phase 1 of the investigation: 

FIRST SCENE OF CRIME OFFICERS IN PERTH ROAD

PC Kerry Maidment - recovered Robert Darby's white Rolex watch.

PC Tony Cook

PC Mark McFaull – patrol car response, took Hunt back to Ilford PS and arrested him for GBH.

PC Lee Marley and PC Mark McFaull – patrol car response.

PC Joicey – found Darby's Stanley knife hidden by Paul Hunt in pub car park.

DC Sarah Cooper – on scene at 12.10pm with DC Poole & PC Guy Ainsworth. Main role to identify witnesses and take details. She spoke to Ahmed and Palmer and arranged for them to be transported to Ilford PS.

PC Tanya Layton – patrol car arrived 12.23pm after Darby was taken to hospital. Kept Incident Management Logs, books 1 & 2, listing vehicle registrations, decisions, deployments, etc).

Sergeant Roffey – Duty Officer at scene and 'Bronze Scene Commander'.

DC Tony Poole – initial exhibits officer at scene.

DC Mandy Powell & DC Andrew Roast

PC Martin Noons & PC Harrington – interviewed local shop owners.

PC Kevin Bailey & TDC Tweddle – handled door-to-door CCTV enquiries, plus items stored at llford PS.

PC Rob Brooker

Inspector Tom Morgan – Duty Officer at Ilford PS.

DCI John MacDonald – spoke to Hunt at Ilford PS, as witnessed by DI Carl Tipping.

DI Carl Tipping – attended The Valentine pub with DCI John MacDonald, witnessed MacDonald speak to Hunt.

DI Gary Fermor – led debriefing at Ilford PS 24/8/05.

Acting DI Allen – initial officer in charge at the scene.

DC Steve Willis – notes taken during interview with Hunt at Ilford PS. Also searched *****'s home with DC Steve Willis & PC Orros.

PC Charalambos Orros – searched co-defendant's home, 27/8/05.

DC Christian Cooper – member of search team at Ilford CID.

Melanie Lamb – received exhibits at Hertford House.

SENIOR & INTERVIEWING OFFICERS (Ilford/Barkingside)

SIO – DCI Mark Kandiah – SCDI (3) Team 2

In a 2014 Times newspaper report (Nov 6, 2014), he was described as a retired Detective Superintendent who was the senior investigator and set up Operation Elvedon – a spin-off from the phone hacking inquiry that uncovered corrupt payments received by police officers from newspaper journalists. Kandiah – who is now retired – was brought in by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, who led the Metropolitan Police investigations relating to phone hacking as part of the Leveson Inquiry that began in 2011.
 

SIO Ken Dyer

DI Larry Smith – searched *****'s flat with DC Steve Willis & PC Charalambos Orros.

DS Simon Hassell – Case officer attached to Specialist Crime Directorate.

DS Creighton – interviewer.

DC Neil Bartle – interviewer.

TDC Kirk Lewin – interviewer.

DC Mike Garvey – interviewer.

DC Tyrone Boughen – interviewer.

DC Steve Lopez – interviewer.

DC Kevin Cull – interviewer, also gathered CCTV and other exhibits.

DC William Cline-Bailey – interviewer.

DC Mary Redbourn

DS Bob Kendall – showed photos of ****** and Moore to Adele Rayner to confirm their IDs.

DC Tracie Pendle – video ID parades officer.

DC Keith Billinge, DC Stuart Bainbridge & DC Chris Davies – exhibits officers.

DC David Fillery

North East Search Team Call Sign Viking 102

Paul Agland, Mayers, Richardson, Black, Martin Taylor, Daniel Tredgett, Nick Sutton & Golledge – conducted search around Gants Hill roundabout area.

Viking 101 search team
PS Trevor Smith (Search Officer/co-ordinator), PC Laurence Smith, PC Mark McCrudden, PC Robert Richardson, PC Martin Richardson, PC Karl Riddick, PC Phil Wells, PC Kelly Roberts, PC Charalambos Orros, PC Gary Pittaway.

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Also attending the crime scene (25/8/05):
PS Coote (team leader) & PC Peter Pridham, plus Smith, Wells, Roberts, Richardson, Riddick, Orros.

PC William Wright – took statement from ambulance technician Neil Williamson.

DC Cresswell

DC Stephen Willis – exhibits officer, conducted search of Darby's Isle of Dogs home in Byng Street, London, E14.

DC Tony Taylor – seized ******'s car from Ongar Motor Co, London Road, Stanford Rivers, Ongar, accompanied by DS Eaton. DC Taylor was also assigned to the Darby family as their Family Liaison Officer.

PC David Lawrence

DS Shaun Plunkett – searched Jason's Docklands apartment and his parents' house in Harlow. Also searched ******'s Newbury Park penthouse flat. 

DC Christian Cooper – reporting officer, took statement from Zaid Mauthoor, employee of Welcome Finance.

DC Richard Ballantine (Ilford)

Suzanne Wright – Crime Scene Manager, received contents of ******’s suitcase found at Warren Mitchell’s office.

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INTERVIEWING OFFICERS

DC Neil Bartle (attached to Community Safety Unit at Barkingside PS) & TDC Kirk Lewin – interviewed significant ‘Witness A’ Abdul Ahmed at Ilford PS, 24/8/05, three-and-a-half hours after the crime, for duration of 42 mins.

DC Steve Lopez – interviewed significant ‘Witness B’ Sally Palmer (not her real name) at Ilford PS, 24/8/05. A paediatric physiotherapist, she drove past the incident while it was in progress.

Unknown officers – interviewed Paul Hunt at Ilford PS, 24/8/05, where he was held in custody overnight charged with suspicion of GBH. Despite repeated requests, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have so far failed to disclose the transcript or audio tape of this interview, nor the photographs they took of Hunt, who was released the next day.

DC Stephen Willis – interviewed Paul Hunt and took another statement from him at his Chadwell Heath home, 26/8/05.

DS Simon Hassell and DI Hall – interviewed the co-defendant's girlfriend, 7/9/05.

DC Mike Garvey & DC Tyrone Boughen – interviewed Sally Palmer for the second time at Ilford PS, 8/9/05.

DC Mike Garvey & DC William Cline-Bailey (Barking Murder Squad) – interviewed Abdul Ahmed for the second time at Limehouse PS, 19/9/05.

DC John Collins & DC Ian Collins accompanied Abdul Ahmed and Sally Palmer to their first two video ID parades at Belgravia PS, 22/9/05. The procedure was overseen by DC Tracie Pendle and Identification Officer Inspector Simon Hibberd.

DC Mike Garvey & DC Kevin Cull (attached to SCD at Hertford House) – read Abdul Ahmed's witness statement (taken on 19/9/05) back to him and he signed it at Limehouse PS, 20/10/05, for duration of 4 mins.

DC Graham Walker & DC Tyrone Boughen – interviewed *****’s friend and business associate Warren Mitchell, 16/9/05. The same officers arrested Mitchell and charged him on suspicion of murder, 11/11/05. He was taken to Ilford PS. A search was also carried out at his home in Dunmow, Essex. We believe Mitchell attended an ID parade viewed by Ahmed and Palmer but he was released without charge.

DS Graham Walker & DI Larry Smith – interviewed and took statements from Paul Hunt & Emma Ross at their Chadwell Heath flat, 16/1/06.

Further indications that police regarded ****** as their prime suspect. On 9/2/06, Met Underwater and Confined Space Search Team based at Wapping PS carried out a search of a pond to the front of ******'s family home, a farmhouse at Wyatts Green, Brentwood, Essex, and also in a small watercourse to the rear of the premises. They reported that “nothing of relevance was found.”

On the same day, eight police officers searched the Epping home of *****'s friend, Colin Jeffries.

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According to PC Ray Mackennon, they were tasked to search this address for a knife, clothing (particularly a navy or royal blue zip-up jacket, a white cloth or T-shirt, and a grey jacket, plus any correspondence linking Jeffries to either ****** or Jason. “Nothing of any relevance was found.”

Stage 2

As ******* and Moore both fled the country within hours of the crime, the investigation ground to a halt early in 2006. It only resumed in 2012 because Moore, via his solicitor, got in touch with DI Andy Jones, boss of the murder squad detectives based in Barking, to say that he wanted to return to the UK, give evidence and clear his name.

The following Met Police detectives investigated the case in its latter stages, post-2012 to trial.

SIO – DI Andy Jones (now retired)

DS Kevin Prosser

DS Simon Hassell – interviewed the co-defendant's girlfriend.

DC K. Jase

INTERVIEWING OFFICERS

DC Kimberley Jones & DC Tom Thear – first interview with Jason Moore, 4/10/12. DC Jones was also in charge of CCTV evidence.

DC Paul Garvey & DC Oxby – transported Abdul Ahmed to and from his final video ID parade, 26/10/12.

DC Richard Ballantine & DC Tom Thear – second interview with Jason Moore, 27/10/12.

DC William Cline-Bailey - SCDI (3)

 

Rank: DCI – Detective Chief Inspector; DS – Detective Superintendent; DI – Detective Inspector; DC – Detective Constable; TDC – Trainee Detective Constable; PC – Police Constable.