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the area secure. Lt. Col. Sewell said that throughout the afternoon he
went to all the sectors in Tivoli Gardens and spoke with his
commanders.
11.135.
Seven days after the operation on 24 May, Mr. Witter Q.C.,
was obliged to write to ACP Gause expressing surprise that “none of
the venues of alleged killings at Ground Zero were being treated as, or
as potential crime scenes” – See Appendix 30 of Mr. Witter’s Interim
Report. Mr. Witter and/or staff of OPD were visiting Tivoli Gardens
daily after 25 May and we received no evidence of apprehension on
their part in going into and working in Tivoli Gardens in the immediate
aftermath of the internal security operation.
11.136.
It is true that the State of Emergency continued in
existence after 24 May but that fact, in itself, does not lend to a
conclusion that Tivoli Gardens was not so pacified as to preclude the
use of Scenes of Crime personnel before 4 June 2010. In that regard,
we accept that Insp. Harris could only begin his work upon a request to
do so. He was only instructed to commence such work on 4 June 2010.
11.137.
Whereas in his written response of 29 April 2016, ACP
Gause sought to make a fine distinction between the roles of BSI and
CIB, such technicalities of the internal functions of the two Units were
not relied on by ACP Gause during his evidence, to justify the conduct
of BSI. It also is not evident that ACP Gause raised these narrow
distinctions in correspondence or otherwise with Mr. Witter Q.C.
11.138.
For all these reasons we re-affirm our finding that ACP
Gause was in dereliction of a duty to commence investigations into the
locations and deaths expeditiously.