'This was an a attempt by the police to shut me up and get me thrown off the council, and it failed.' -- Councillor Peter Sandy, Rushmoor Borough Council

For several months Peter Sandy, a community activist and independent councillor in what is known locally as the Rotten Borough of Rushmoor, has been under investigation by the Standards Board for England.

This was following a number of serious allegations made by Joe Apps, now retired, but who at the time he made the allegations was a serving police officer, Divisional Commander of Hampshire Police.

The allegations included:

- feeding the police false information and wasting police time
- misuse of office and resources
- inciting the local community against the police
- taking on and confronting local yobs

The Standards Board looked into these allegations and found there was not a shred of evidence to support the allegations made.

Peter Sandy is a hard working councillor. He does his best for his ward, which is in a very deprived area, suffering more than its fair share of criminal and delinquent behaviour.

Unlike most councillors, and certainly more than the local beat officers, he is out and about most days around his ward.

As a result he knows what is going on.

Had he been wasting police time, and feeding the police false information, why did the police not mount a prosecution?

Local residents report what they see to Peter Sandy because they have no confidence in the police, cannot get anyone to come out to deal with their problems.

All Peter Sandy can do is act on their behalf and pass on their concerns and criticisms. It is not his role to investigate the truth or otherwise of what they have seen or have to say. He does not have an investigative role, that is the role of the police.

Periodically, Peter Sandy holds informal open public meetings where local residents can come along and express their concerns and opinions. Something no other local councillor does. Peter Sandy tries to have along local agencies, including the police, council, social services, Pavilion (a local housing association), who may be able to address their concerns. The meetings are chaired by either Peter Sandy or a member of the local community.

At one such meeting, the local beat officers were criticised for their failings.

This they did not like, and if their report was to be believed, they appeared back at the police station white and visibly shaken, because allegedly Peter Sandy had incited the public against the police.

If the police were to be believed, one had a vision of Broadwater Farm, the police officers lined up against the wall with machetes at their throats.

What actually happened was that a couple of women criticised the police.

The lady who chaired the meeting, which by all accounts was well conducted (as are all the meetings), was extremely angry at what she saw as a smear on her reputation.

The claim that Peter Sandy was taking on local yobs was laughable.

Peter Sandy wanders around his ward in a wheelchair, but if we were to believe Joe Apps, he was confronting local gangs.

Joe Apps produced no evidence to support his allegation, he was not there, he was not a witness.

Thus, like all his allegations, it was at best based on hearsay.

No evidence was produced to support misuse of office.

The only area where the Standards Board had a mild criticism was in a letter that Peter Sandy had written to a local resident. They did not like his choice of words. For many months the resident had been running a vicious smear campaign and harassing Peter Sandy and his wife, which resulted in Peter Sandy being threatened with a knife. The police were aware of the harassment, but chose to take no action. Peter Sandy felt he had no choice, and in a strongly worded letter, told the individual she had to stop. The next thing he knew he was hauled down the local police station facing prosecution. When the case was passed to CPS, they found there was no case to answer.

In conclusion, the Standards Board cleared Peter Sandy of all charges made against him.

Nevertheless, a big question mark hangs over the Standards Board. As there was not a shred of evidence to support these wild allegations, why did they spend months of taxpayers money on an in-depth investigation?

Had an ordinary member of the public made these allegations, it is very doubtful it would have got past the referrals stage.

Had such allegations been before a Court, the judge would have thrown the case out, as there was no case to answer.

In a statement to the local press, Peter Sandy said:

'This was an a attempt by the police to shut me up and get me thrown off the council, and it failed.'

'They don't like it because I am a thorn in their side.'

'They want to put pressure on anyone who criticises them. If they have their way this would be a totalitarian state. I'll be seeking an apology and I want the two officers behind all this removed from the area because we can't trust them.'

'All of their allegations were complete nonsense. I knew I would be vindicated, and I've been proved right.'

Policing relies on the support of the local community. This support has been lost in Aldershot.

Peter Sandy and the local community are calling for an independent investigation into what is seen as a serious abuse of police resources, for the resignation of the two beat officers. Were Joe Apps still a serving police officer there would be calls for his resignation too.

So far, the Police have refused to even issue an apology, instead, they maintain that the action of Sup Joe Apps was the 'most appropriate course of action in relation to concerns he had about Councillor Sandy's conduct'.

Taken at its face value, the statement by the police is that they would appear to condone a senior officer manufacturing allegations as the right course of action to silence a critic.

Peter Sandy is still waiting to be cleared of allegations made against him by his own council for daring to criticise the failings of the housing department, and in particular its head Alison Whiteley.

Since becoming a councillor two years ago, Peter Sandy has experienced nothing but lack of cooperation and bloody-minded obstruction from senior council officials, up to and including the chief executive Andrew Lloyd.

Referral to the Standards Board by the Council and the Police, is part of the war of attrition being waged against Peter Sandy for daring to stand up for the local community.

There is strong suspicion of collusion between the police and the council as both want to be rid of what they see as a troublesome councillor.

Ref

Cliff Mogg, 'I want cops to say sorry' – Maverick councillor is cleared of any wrongdoing, Surrey-Hants Star, 23 November 2006
 http://www.shstar.co.uk/news/2005/2005592/i_want_cops_to_say_sorry

Keith Parkins, Empty property in Farnborough town centre, Indymedia UK, 27 November 2006

Councillor Peter Sandy, Heron Wood, Aldershot, Rushmoor {June 2004 - May 2008}
 http://www.rushmoor.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=3585

Councillor Peter Sandy, Case Summary, Standards Board for England, 31 Oct 2006
 http://www.standardsboard.co.uk/Casesummaries/Casesummaries/R/RushmoorBoroughCouncil/Name,5550,en.html