Northamptonshire chief constable fined £50,000 for contempt

newsApr 30, 202619415

A court found Northamptonshire Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet in contempt of court and fined him £50,000 for withholding body-worn video from the Nadine Buzzard-Quashie arrest. Balhatchet told courts that all footage had been released or deleted, but audit logs obtained later showed additional videos existed and had been accessed dozens of times. The withheld footage directly related to the Buzzard-Quashie case, and the ruling creates a clear legal consequence for failures to disclose evidence, raising questions about evidence-handling at Northamptonshire Police.

She Guevara

@sheg7.bsky.social

"Ivan Balhatchet is believed to be the first chief constable held in contempt of court" translates in plain English to "This is the first time we have been unable to protect our own because the evidence is so damning"

18390d ago

Sunder Katwala (sundersays)

@sundersays.bsky.social

"In witness statements prepared for the courts, Chief Constable Balhatchet insisted all body-worn video had been released to her or deleted. But eventually her lawyers obtained audit logs revealing such claims to be false - there more videos, but they had been accessed by the police dozens of times"

7490d ago

kylie4Bob

@kayfourbee.bsky.social

If you are the chief constable and you do a contempt of court that seems like a no longer chief constable deal

4390d ago

Richard K

@rkemb.eurosky.social

Does feel like this behaviour from a Chief Constable deserves more consequence than a £50k fine.

Balhatchet admitted contempt of court and apologised in person to the Court of Appeal for the "appalling failures" of his force, which Lord Justice Fraser described as "wilfully disobedient".

He was ordered to pay a £50,000 fine and to date, more than £250,000 in legal costs.

3190d ago

kylie4Bob43

If you are the chief constable and you do a contempt of court that seems like a no longer chief constable deal

tadaaa.bsky.social

@tadaaa.bsky.social

i would remove a large portion of "The Chief Constable of Northamptonshire, Ivan Balhatchet" - pension a precedent that will concentrate the minds of ppl ultimately responsible for this stuff

2790d ago

Martin

@martinavatar.bsky.social

It appears that Ivan Balhatchet is merely the guy left carrying the can: "The BBC has asked for comment from Balhatchet's predecessor, Nick Adderley (chief constable of Northamptonshire Police) at the time of the incident..."

1690d ago

📎 Scott Miller #FBPE

@3chordrock.bsky.social

Ivan Balhatchet is believed to be the first chief constable to be found in contempt of court. The BBC news article is shocking.

Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet has cropped hair and serious expression. He is wearing a white short-sleeved police shirt with epaulettes & a black tie

690d ago

Jonathan Calder

@lordbonkers.bsky.social

The Chief Constable of Northamptonshire, Ivan Balhatchet, was found guilty of contempt of court in November and fined £50,000 for failing to release the body-worn videos to her.

790d ago

Dr Matt Lodder

@mattlodder.com

There's a whole 'nother "judge ignores the law" slice to this story too... www.5essex.co.uk/data-brief/b...

790d ago

Danielle Blake

@abradacabla.bsky.social

Read about grotesque abuse of power and criminal conduct by two separate forces here with a chief constable guilty of contempt of court, then get to the end and discover the previous Northants chief constable when the incident happened is *Nick Adderley*, who’s facing separate criminal charges.

1090d ago

Ged

@failedtheologian.bsky.social

if a lawyer or a health professional lied to a court their career would be over. The article understandably concentrates on the Chief Constable but how many officers must have given dishonest evidence for the case to get here?

390d ago

Tor Lillqvist

@tml.mementomori.social.ap.brid.gy

Straight from central casting, isn't he? "Ivan Balhatchet is believed to be the first chief constable to be found in contempt of court" From https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yxley0pp5o