Supergrass: Courts Find Police Informer Not Only Had 51 Convictions But Is A “Pathological Liar”

The use of informers by police have always been criticized, particularly jail house snitches who will implicate anyone for a better deal. Scotland Yard has used 158 “supergrasses” used since 2006, including Gary Eaton, 51, who is now the center of a scandal over such procured testimony. Called a “pathological liar” by two courts, the Metropolitan Police still used Eaton to the trial of various people of murder. While records show the police were aware of his prior record, pathological lying, and mental instability, Scotland Yard has announced that no officers or prosecutors will be punished for his use as the star witness in two murder trials.

Gary Eaton was used in the trial of four men for the murder of the private detective Daniel Morgan. Critics say that the police did not care that Eaton lacked any credibility in their rush to convict the men of the killing of a fellow officer.

Chief Constable Jon Murphy, head of crime for the Association of Chief Police Officers, criticized the use of such men as Eaton as “dancing with the devil”.

It is a view shared by judges who looked at Eaton and found him to be a liar. Among the facts found by the courts, police failed to disclose Eaton’s history of psychiatric problems, heavy drinking, and violence. Police took Eaton to a covert location to coach him on details that he clearly did not know. Eaton and his girlfriend were paid £72,000 in 11 months and used despite a 27-year sentence for 51 crimes including conspiracy to murder, bribery, supplying drugs, blackmail and possession of firearms reduced to three years.

The other details in the article below are shocking — and all to familiar to people working in the criminal justice system in both the United States and England.

Source: Guardian