Officers 'did not plan to mislead' over plebgate claims

In a statement released on behalf of Inspector Ken MacKaill of West Mercia Police; Detective Sergeant Stuart Hinton from Warwickshire Police and Sergeant Chris Jones from West Midlands Police the officers said that they, "did not plan to mislead anyone" over a meeting they held with Andrew Mitchell.

The statement said: "We are making this statement in response to public concern generated by the widely reported outcome of West Mercia's investigation into matters arising from the meeting we had with Andrew Mitchell MP in his constituency on 12th October 2012.

"The reputation of, and public confidence in, the police service is of immense concern to each of us.

"We acknowledge the investigation’s criticism relating to our poor judgement in talking to the media following the meeting with Andrew Mitchell, for which we take this opportunity to apologise.

"We would like to emphasise (as we did to the investigation) that in no way did any of us ever plan or intend to mislead anyone about what occurred during this meeting or otherwise."