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Damilola cop quits

from Cathy (cathyvpreece@aol.com)

South London Press

News

Damilola cop quits

Sep 23 2003

A POLICE sergeant heavily criticised over the collapse of the Damilola Taylor trial has quit the force.

Caroline Crooks, 36, was at the centre of the high-profile investigation into the murder of the 10-year-old in Peckham nearly three years ago.

She had always insisted she had done her best despite damning condemnation following the breakdown of the trial.

She was instrumental in quizzing the controversial key witness, dubbed "Bromley" - a testimony which later contributed to the trial's collapse.

Now Sgt Crooks, who was based at Kennington police station, has handed in her resignation and headed back to her native Ireland.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan police confirmed Sgt Crooks had left the force but added: "We can't comment on what her reasons might have been."

Four teenagers were eventually cleared of stabbing 10-year-old Damilola in a north Peckham stairwell in November 2000.

Sgt Crooks had led 10 hours of interviews with the 14-year-old female witness Bromley.

Last year the Old Bailey heard Sgt Crooks had told Bromley she would be "more guaranteed" to collect a £50,000 reward if she claimed she had seen the actual stabbing.

The court also heard Sgt Crooks had had no proper police training in interview techniques with juveniles.

Afterwards Sgt Crooks refuted suggestions her investigative methods had been unsound, and said: "I did the best job I could."

An independent review chaired by the Bishop of Birmingham later blasted the entire police investigation into the murder.

The review pointed to a series of failings throughout.

It stated: "In hindsight, Bromley should have been interviewed in better ways.

"The absence of any process to test the veracity of Bromley's testimony before trial left the prosecution of the case vulnerable to problems."

(posted 7492 days ago)

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