In your article about the road traffic collision in St Leonards in October 2005 (The Argus, April 26) you quote the Sussex Police Federation criticising the IPCC Commissioner Mike Franklin. There are no grounds whatsoever for this.

The crash was a terrible incident in which five young people lost their lives. The IPCC has a legal duty to ensure that where police officers are involved in such cases there is a proper investigation. This same investigation provides the coroner with all the evidence and witnesses needed for the inquest.

In this case, Mike Franklin managed the investigation by Sussex Police. This was a responsibility which I know that he took extremely seriously and he was exacting in his efforts to ensure that the families of the five young people who died were satisfied that the investigation was thorough and independent.

I also know he wanted to ensure the officers were also satisfied that the investigation was objective and unbiased.

It was the IPCC investigation which provided the very basis for the inquest and it was during the inquest the confusion about the ACPO and Sussex Police pursuit guidelines was realised. This confusion was a key factor in Mike deciding it would be unreasonable to impose any disciplinary sanction on any officer.

Once the inquest was over Mike made this decision quickly - there was no second investigation.

I find it very surprising that the Sussex Federation, which knows all this, has any basis to complain.

Without the involvement of Mike on behalf of the IPCC in this case, the public would have been reliant on the police investigating themselves.

John Wadham
IPCC deputy chair,
London and South East Region