COPPERS FACE "HOMOPHOBIA" ENQUIRY OVER PUB RAID

31-03-2008

West Midlands Police face an official enquiry into allegations of homophobia following a raid on a Birmingham pub last summer. Officers claimed The Fountain in the gay village was in breach of licensing conditions after regulars were caught watching hardcore porn, but attempts to revoke its licence ended in failure.

Now landlord Eric Siekierski is referring the matter to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

His spokesman and Fountain regular Philip Rolle says there is a “concern that West Midlands Police Force has an ongoing problem with institutionalised homophobia.”

He cites as evidence the fact that one of the officers involved in the raid has since been promoted.

Rolle adds that the Force can’t be trusted to carry out its own enquiry, saying: “A serving West Midlands Force officer Inspector McEldowney has recently expressed the view that some senior officers in the West Midlands Force are homophobic and that this has been the case for a number of years.

“These comments have received extensive press coverage and give rise to a concern that Force Professional Standards (which comprises senior West Midlands Force officers) may not be impartial when investigating complaints of this nature.”

Many Fountain customers were angry at what they regarded as the heavy handedness of the raid – and were upset that it was based on an anonymous tip-off.

Since the incident in August, there have been allegations on The Stirrer Forum that rogue West Midlands officers have been guilty of using gay hating language on the streets – an issue picked up in the pink press.

Ironically, in January the Force was named by pressure group Stonewall as the 33rd best employer in the country for gay, lesbian and transgender staff.

To see Philip Rolle’s letter in full click here

(See also Fountain Landlord Demands Probe On Homophobic Raid)