BBC NEWS | UK | At a glance: Damilola police report

The Damilola Taylor murder trial exposed flaws in the criminal justice system and failings in the police investigation of the case, two reports have found.
The report by the Bishop of Birmingham, John Sentamu, into the police investigation was particularly critical of the handling of 14-year-old 'Witness Bromley' - her crucial evidence was rejected because she lied.

That report's key conclusions and recommendations are outlined below.

Report's conclusions

Child witness 'Bromley' should have been interviewed in better ways

Investigative work relating to the possible use of mobile telephones by the defendants took too long

The forensic examination of footwear also took too long.

More work should have been done to identify and evidence all the options available to the perpetrators of the crime, travelling from the scene to a particular location (where the defendants in the case were known to have been shortly after).

Some of the evidence excluded from the jury (because of criminal justice rules) probably had a significant effect on the trial's outcome

Bishop Sentamu led a six-month inquiry

There were instances where the nature or circumstances of the evidence obtained by the investigators left the prosecution vulnerable to avoidable challenges under the existing rules of evidence

The initial attendance and management at the crime scene was good

The involvement of independent community advisors was innovative and effective

The various suspects in the case were arrested promptly and effectively

The police went to considerable lengths to acquire additional information and evidence by innovative covert means

The post-charge phase of the investigation and the associated work necessary in preparing the case for trial was less well managed

Establishing if the defendants had made incriminating remarks whilst in custody was innovative but poorly resourced - some of the evidence subsequently obtained was unnecessarily vulnerable to challenge

Last images of Damilola Taylor caught on closed circuit TV footage

The police response to Damilola Taylor's murder is a manifest example of how the Met Police has moved on since its unsatisfactory investigation of the 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence

The great majority of the Metropolitan Police Service's efforts revealed a level of professionalism, commitment and application to the investigation and its commensurate difficulties that should be commended

Report's recommendations

The 54-page report includes 28 conclusions of wide-ranging recommendations relating not just to the police and the Met but the prison service and criminal justice system as a whole.

A greater balance is needed between prosecution and the defence during trials

The Government should reconsider the rules of evidence within trials

The Government should consider whether or not the prosecution's right of appeal on all matters of evidence during a trial needs reforming

The treatment and handling of vulnerable witnesses should be reconsidered

The Metropolitan Police should get more resources to deal with murder investigations as a lack of detectives remained "a serious problem" on the Damilola Taylor case

Senior investigating officers or anyone else on the investigation team in murders should not be reassigned until an assessment of all the outstanding work was made

HM Prison Service should reviews its internal information systems


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