Sandwell employee Court mystery - did she lie?

 Remember this pair?

These were the two Sandwell Council employees each sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for involvement in the importation of large quantities of Class A drugs - Messrs Billy Hayre and Sundeep Rai. I wrote a long and popular post about the sentencing of this pair having attended the various hearings at Wolvo Crown Court (see link below for full story*) but regular readers may recall this paragraph:

"I did not have access to the Court bundle of documents [at the sentencing hearings] but Hayre's barrister specifically stated in mitigation that the bundle contained a number of character references for him including a letter from "Manesa Patel of his employers". This raises some concern. If Counsel was wrong and the letter was simply from a friend in her personal capacity then it is to be hoped that Ms Patel clearly described her true status vis a vis Hayre. Further, if this was a private reference one still has to ask whether this was appropriate noting that she was the line manager of this pair who were bunking off unloading lorries when she was, apparently, completely unaware of this."

Following the hearings I applied to the Court, as a journalist, to see the reference from Ms Patel, Sandwell's Complex Housing Hub Leader and line manager of the two criminals, as it had been specifically referred to in open Court. In my original post I also wrote this about her:

"One SMBC employee describes Ms Patel as "Hayre's girlfriend". Another calls her "Billy's partner". A third said she is "a very close friend of Billy". It is very important to note that Ms Patel has specifically told The Skidder that this is absolutely incorrect. She is not, she says, and never has been, in a relationship with Hayre. When asked why she was taking such an active interest in the case she said that he was just "a friend" (direct quote).

"It has been alleged by one employee that Hayre regularly gave Ms Patel "gifts". I am sure that must be untrue given Ms Patel's clear and unequivocal statements that they were most definitely not close.

"It has to be said, however, that Ms Patel has taken a day off work for each of the ... hearings. She stated in my presence that she had visited Hayre in prison at least once. More surprisingly, at one of the hearings she went into a private consultation room with Hayre's barrister (a highly experienced professional). That is extremely unusual for someone not connected with the barrister's client."

[Following my original post dated 26th August, 2023 another employee contacted me and alleged that Ms Patel had actually been living with Hayre at an address he gave to the Court in Great Barr. As above, however, Ms Patel specifically denies any closeness to Hayre other than one of "friendship". It should also be noted here that Ms Patel did not contact me to complain in any way concerning my original post.]

It is noteworthy that Patel only gave a reference for Hayre and not one for Rai.

The Crown Court Judge made a formal decision that the reference could be released to me (subject to redactions concerning addresses etc.) but not until the expiry of three months from the date of his Order in the event that Ms Patel wished to apply for judicial review in respect of his decision. 

Ms Patel had already objected to disclosure by the Crown Court prior to the Judge's decision including grossly defamatory remarks about me. The Judge recorded:

"In essence she asserted that she had been the subject of harassment by the Applicant in the past, and that her employers, the Local Authority, have been the subject of inaccurate and irresponsible reporting and social media blogs by the Applicant as well."

Not only have I never harassed Ms Patel "in the past" (whatever she means by that) but she is clearly also purporting to speak for Sandwell Council! Any repetition of these malicious slurs will lead to more work for m'learned friends!

If she chose to "appeal" the Decision this would entail an application to the Administrative Court rather than the Crown Court (or higher). Thus the reference was to be released on 21st March, 2024. I heard nothing further but wrote to the Court on 21st March requesting a copy of the reference. To my considerable surprise I was told that Ms Patel had informed Wolvo Crown Court that she had contested the Crown Court's decision! Wolvo Crown Court told me in writing that Patel had told them she HAD "appealed".

Wolvo CC then issued directions to Patel on 27th March that she was to inform them of the Case reference number for her "appeal" to the Administrative Court, and then supply updates every three weeks as to the progress of her case.

On 25th April the Judge, as part of a Direction, stated:

"I shall wait until Ms Patel, who has been assiduous in keeping us abreast of developments, confirms that the Administrative Court has dealt with her appeal."

But still no case reference reference number was forthcoming and this was confirmed again by Wolvo CC on 1st May. Finally, the Court simply released the reference to me without further comment.

[Despite the Court order and the fact that the reference was referred to in open Court it has been sent to me on a "protected" basis - not for public release. As it is, I can say that it appears to be a "personal" reference from Patel and whilst making a passing reference to Hayre's employment it does not APPEAR to have been sent from the Council.]

There is total silence from Chief Executive, Shokat Lal, (and, of course, from the Tory Councillors) as to what investigations he implemented into this whole sordid affair - although it appears that it is all "business as usual". It should be remembered that the two main offences were committed whilst this pair were at "work", and that Rai had 9kg of coke in the boot of his Mercedes as he and Hayre visited vulnerable adults and ex-offenders on behalf of the Council!

But now further questions arise:

1   Did Lal authorise Patel to defame me in her initial submissions to the Crown Court Judge?

2   Did Patel actually make an Application to the Administrative Court and, if so, what happened or, alternatively, was no Application made and Patel simply lied to the Crown Court about this?

3   If Patel lied to the Crown Court what, if any, sanctions will she face from (a) the Court and (b) Sandwell Council?

Perhaps Ms Patel will email The Skidder and come clean about what actually happened here and why she was so anxious to keep her reference private.

* https://thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com/2023/08/two-sandwell-council-workers-caged.html

LEGAL NOTICE (Version 4 from 8th October, 2023.)

I cannot list every previous mention of individuals referred to in the entirety of this blog. Where I refer to a specific story please follow the supplied hyperlink since this forms legal justification for later comments. Similarly references to “posts or Skidders passim” and to earlier posts mean any individuals concerned about purported defamatory or otherwise unlawful material must read later posts in the context of earlier posts. Full information can also be supplied within a reasonable time upon application via email to thesandwellskidder@gmail.com

We may also add hyperlinks or references to content in our associated blogs, “As The Crow Flies!” (at crowmultimedia.blogspot.com) and Rotten Council Governance - Legal Review (at rottencouncils.blogspot.com). Reference to content in those blogs also forms part of the context, meaning of, and justification for, contents in this blog.

In most cases we try to give the subjects of these blog posts the opportunity to comment on our journalism pre-publication to ensure the accuracy of our work.

Every now and again we make a genuine error and get something wrong. If an error in the blog affects you please email thesandwellskidder@gmail.com and we shall use our best endeavours to remove offending material and/or publish appropriate corrections forthwith (together with an apology, if applicable).

We have had to remove the direct comment facility from this blog due to the malicious activity of a West Bromwich woman but we are pleased to receive comments via email to thesandwellskidder@gmail.com, on Twitter via our publishers @CrowMultimedia or via our dedicated Facebook Group: “The Sandwell Skidder - Speaking Truth to Power!” We are happy to publish any sensible commentary and offer a right of reply where applicable. We can also publish “guest” posts on mutually agreed terms.

If you consider that anything written is defamatory or otherwise unlawful please email thesandwellskidder@gmail.com or telephone 07470 624207 forthwith. If your complaint has merit we shall endeavour to make immediate amends.