My client, June Whittaker’s son Lynford was murdered in a knife attack in Cardiff in June 2016 when he was 29 years old.
Detective Constable Rebecca Bryant of South Wales Police was assigned to June and her family as the Family Liaison Officer.
Three men – Dwayne Edgar, Robert Lainsbury and Jake Whelan were swiftly arrested and charged with Lynford’s murder. The Trial was listed to take place at Cardiff Crown Court in late November 2016.
The jury for the murder trial was however fatally flawed, in that one of the Jurors was in fact Lauren Jones, the girlfriend of PC Bryant’s son. Not only DC Bryant and Ms Jones were well aware of each other’s involvement in the case but prior to the commencement of the Trial, DC Bryant had sent a text message to Lauren Jones encouraging her to keep quiet about their relationship.
The Trial of the perpetrators commenced on 1 December 2016. June and several members of her family attended Court that day, accompanied by DC Bryant in her role as Family Liaison Officer. DC Bryant and Ms Jones continued their deception, saying nothing about their knowledge of one another nor the connection between Ms Jones and June’s daughter.
Over the following weeks as the Trial got underway, DC Bryant and Ms Jones exchanged numerous messages referencing attendance at Court.
On 20 December 2016 the Jury returned guilty verdicts in respect of the accused and they were convicted of Lynford’s murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
In late February 2017, two Officers of South Wales Police attended at June’s home and informed her that one of the perpetrator’s solicitors had discovered that DC Bryant’s son was in a relationship with one of the Jurors (Lauren Jones) and that accordingly the three men’s convictions were going to be appealed. A misconduct investigation was also simultaneously launched into DC Bryant’s conduct. She initially denied to her superiors any knowledge of Lauren Jones, but then admitted the truth.
June was devasted by the news that the convictions might be overturned and on 20 July 2017, after receiving a telephone call from the Police informing her of the increasing likelihood that the convictions would be quashed and that she would have to live through a re-trial of the perpetrators, June took an overdose of medication with the intention of ending her life. Fortunately she was discovered by one of her daughters and rushed to hospital, where her life was saved.
A year later, in July 2018 the Court of Appeal Criminal Division quashed the three men’s convictions.
June then had to wait almost another year before, in late March 2019, the re-trial of Edgar, Lainsbury and Whelan concluded at Bristol Crown Court and all three men were convicted of murder for a second time and again sentenced to life imprisonment.
Justice had been done, but at a terrible cost to June’s mental health over an agonising period of two years from February 2017 to March 2019.
In June 2019, the Misconduct proceedings against DC Bryant concluded and she was dismissed from South Wales Police without notice for gross misconduct in relation to her failure to reveal her relationship with the Juror Lauren Jones and her initial denial to her Superior Officer about her relationship with Ms Jones.
June subsequently pursued a claim against South Wales Police for misfeasance in public office on the basis that DC Bryant’s actions were so recklessly indifferent to the obvious likelihood of causing harm to June that they to all intents and purposes were comparable to acts of misfeasance carried out with deliberate malice.
Following the institution of Court proceedings, June’s case was settled for significant damages and her legal costs.
Also read: Jury Selection and Police Deception
