One of the many repercussions from the Pocklington Town Council’s (PTC) failure to ensure that the Pocklington CCTV system is lawfully operated may include the financial meltdown of the PTC itself.

PTC Councillor Martin Cooper

I am informed that since 2001 there have been an estimated 738 cases in Pocklington where CCTV footage was unlawfully used in court to prosecute. As this evidence was unlawfully gathered and was inadmissible this could result in:

1. All convictions, in whatever form, being quashed.
2. Those convicted taking legal action against PTC.
3. Those convicted taking legal action against Humberside Police.

I am already aware that there are those in the legal profession who welcome the prospect of those who have been unlawfully convicted requesting their assistance. Legal Aid or No-Win/No-Fee appear to be options for many.

Criminal’s Best Friend

PTC, through their sheer incompetence, appears to be the criminal’s best friend. If the fundamentally flawed CCTV evidence had not been used, many would still have been convicted.

Yet the unlawful use of CCTV in Pocklington and other East Riding towns has the potential to be the biggest scandal the area has ever known.

Hall Of Shame

Those who should have raised questions as to the lawfulness of the Pocklington CCTV system include:

1. PTC
2. PTC Councillors, past and present
3. Pocklington Provincial Conservative Ward Councillors, past and present, who have worked with PTC
4. Pocklington and Market Weighton Crime Prevention Panel
5. Humberside Police

Burying Their Heads

With a potential of 738 legal actions that could be taken against them, PTC could:

1. Lose their full reserve.
2. Have to sell their offices.
3. Be forced to reduce staff to a part-time Clerk.
4. Only be permitted to undertake their statutory duties – cemetery and allotments.
5. Be unable to pay for Art Centre salaries.
6. Be unable to finance any events

Sadly, unlike neighbouring Town Councils, PTC Councillors are burying their heads.

Clean Hands

My hands are clean as:

1. When a Ward Councillor, I refused to work with PTC, due to their incompetence
2. When a Ward Councillor, I was never invited to attend a Pocklington and Market Weighton Crime Prevention Panel meeting.
3. I publically exposed the unlawful CCTV system as soon as I became aware of it.
4. I agreed to work with any Town Council that approached me to address the CCTV fiasco fall out.

PTC Contingency

PTC MUST ensure that they have a contingency plan in place to deal with up to 738 legal cases against them.

Pocklington residents will ultimately be forced to pay for the failures of PTC and those that they work with.

True to form, PTC has not requested my help – despite the fact that others have. My sources inform me that they are relying on those who got them into the mess in the first place.

Fools never learn!