Report into Operation Gird

Government response [to be supplied]

This report reviews the operation of the Terrorism Act 2000 during the Metropolitan Police Service investigation into a suspected plot to harm Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to the UK in September 2010. 

The report concludes that there is no reason to believe, with the benefit of hindsight, that any of the arrested men was involved in a plot to kill the Pope or that any such plot existed.  However the police powers of detention, search and seizure were properly and appropriately used, and the period of detention was not excessive.

The report made three recommendations, relating to:

• the requirement for reasonable suspicion in relation to each person arrested under TA 2000 section 41
• adherence to the proper procedure for delaying the right not to be held incommunicado
• exercise of the right to have a named person informed of detention, even when the detainee’s only memory of the relevant telephone number is on a mobile device that is liable to be removed for examination.

Published: May 2011