Governor’s role in quashing Corbishley inquiry ‘very unsatisfactory’
Withholding a report about the alleged misconduct of a former Commissioner of Police appears to be aimed at “covering up potential embarrassment”, according to a top lawyer.
Jerome Lynch, KC, said it was “very, very unsatisfactory” that Government House insisted on keeping secret the report, which was written by investigator Andrew Bermingham after he was asked by the Governor to conduct an inquiry into claims of wrongdoing against Stephen Corbishley.
"I think this is utterly wrong," Mr Lynch told The Royal Gazette. “It does feel like this is covering up potential embarrassment rather than a genuine desire to safeguard someone’s personal record.
“That the report might embarrass people is neither here nor there.”
Police sergeant Mark Monk and his wife, Tricia Monk, are represented by Mr Lynch in a criminal case in which they are charged with harassing Mr Corbishley and Superintendent Gillian Murray, the former head of the Bermuda Police Service’s professional standards department. The couple deny the allegations.
Mr Lynch argued in Magistrates’ Court that Mr Bermingham’s report was relevant to his clients’ defence.
Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo agreed it was likely to be relevant and ordered Tom Oppenheim, the Deputy Governor, to bring the document to the next hearing on July 25 for prosecutor Alan Richards to assess.
Mr Tokunbo’s order came the day after it was reported that Information Commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez upheld a decision by Rena Lalgie, the Governor, to withhold the report from The Royal Gazette in response to a public access to information request.
Ms Gutierrez said she had “carefully reviewed” the report by Mr Bermingham and agreed with Government House that it was an “update” and not a report of a completed investigation under the Police (Conduct) Orders 2016.
The Information Commissioner wrote: “A disclosure under the Pati Act to the public of an update containing unproven and preliminary information circumvents the careful procedures under the Conduct Orders for information sharing and renders them ineffective.”
Ms Lalgie ordered the inquiry into Mr Corbishley in March 2021 after complaints made to Government House about him by police constable Robert Butterfield.
At the time, Mr Butterfield and Mr Monk were being investigated as part of a criminal inquiry into whether they made public a confidential court document with information about Mr Corbishley’s private life.
That criminal inquiry was later dropped and the two policemen, both suspended on full pay, were reinstated.
Ms Lalgie appointed Mr Bermingham to investigate allegations that Mr Corbishley identified Mr Butterfield as a Pati requester and that he passed information gathered during the criminal inquiry into both officers to his personal lawyer to pursue a civil claim for damages.
It is understood the inquiry looked into the obtaining of a warrant by the Bermuda Police Service to search the homes of Mr Butterfield and Mr Monk in December 2020.
The Gazette understands that Mr Bermingham’s report was passed to the Governor some months before Mr Corbishley suddenly quit, without public explanation as to why, in October 2021.
His departure led Ms Lalgie to abandon the misconduct inquiry on the grounds that “no further investigation of the allegations made is legally permissible or appropriate and, thus, the matter is now closed”.
Government House told the Information Commissioner that Mr Corbishley had "not yet had an opportunity to respond to the allegations, which remained unproven at the time of the [March 2022] internal review decision.“
It said the “resignation of the former Commissioner of Police meant that the Governor no longer had power to take any further action at the conclusion of an investigation, if one was to continue”.
Mr Lynch said: “It seems to me that Mr Corbishley must have been aware of the nature of the allegations against him. One would have thought that he would have done something about it.”
He questioned why a high-ranking “robust police officer“ who led the island’s police service and still had two years left to run on his contract did not stay to answer the allegations and clear his name.
The lawyer said the public had the right to ask such questions and to demand a better explanation from Government House as to why it did not properly conclude the misconduct inquiry.
Mr Lynch said taxpayers also deserved to know details of the publicly funded severance package the former police commissioner received, as well as whether he got to keep his government pension.
The Governor previously rejected Pati requests from the Gazette asking for the settlement Mr Corbishley received after resigning and any communications he had with Government House in the month before and after he quit. The Information Commissioner backed the decisions.
Asked if Ms Gutierrez had made the wrong decision regarding Mr Bermingham’s report, Mr Lynch replied: “It’s difficult to make that judgment because we don’t have the material that she’s got.
“It feels wrong. The report feels like something we should have. It feels to me like this is something that should be in the public domain, even in edited form. It seems to me that hasn’t been considered, whether it should be edited.”
The Information Commissioner wrote that “several public-interest factors favoured” nondisclosure, adding: “Most compelling was the fact that it would be unfair and an invasion of personal privacy to disclose unfounded allegations and other preliminary details of a gross misconduct investigation that was never concluded.
“Such disclosure would likely fuel speculation and rumour. It also could result in unwarranted attention being directed towards the former Commissioner of Police, those who made accusations against him, and other individuals related to the investigation.”
The Information Commissioner’s Office said in a statement last week that Ms Gutierrez recognised “there were compelling arguments” in favour of disclosure, including Mr Corbishley’s position and the allegations that “suggested an abuse of authority”.
It added: "But she found that these arguments were premised on beliefs that the report was submitted to the Governor on completion of an investigation against the former Commissioner of Police and that the record would shed light on the former Commissioner of Police’s conduct and further accountability.
"The Information Commissioner’s decision clarified that this was not the case.“
It was not possible to reach Mr Corbishley for comment. Mr Oppenheim said on Friday: “We are on the record regarding the Pati request and have nothing further to add. We will not comment on the legal proceedings.”
