The Suffolk Hyde Affair - Doc 107 Suffolk County Legal Department

Events 13th April 1999

Suffolk County Council County Hall
St Helen Court Ipswich Suffolk

The SubO X Prosecution hearing was adjourned for lunch.

All parties departed from the council chamber to take lunch and further conference.

SubO X and Firefighter M. Hyde, after consultation with Craig Jones and Gary Morton, took lunch at the

Suffolk County Cafeteria. Already present their were the prosecution team Divisional Officer Colin Hodge and Richard Jory. The latter left, presumably to return to County Hall before SubO X and Firefighter M. Hyde had finished their meals.

As SubO X and Firefighter M. Hyde made their return to County Hall they passed by window of the consulting room provided for the defence team in which personal effects, and documents had been placed. Passing the window Firefighter M. Hyde remarked that he thought he had seen somebody exiting the defence team consulting room. From the momentary glance and the image of a person’s back he was pretty sure it was not anybody from SubO X’s defence team.

Prompted by concern SubO X and Firefighter M. Hyde hurriedly made their necessary de-tour through County Hall reception back to the defence team consulting room.

On entering the defence team room no other person was found to be present. Nevertheless upon inspection of personal effects there was a suspicion that disturbance had taken place. Later the same day Firefighter M. Hyde observed that his briefcase containing personal documents, brought for inspection and the opinion of Craig Jones, had been interfered with. It would appear that documents in the briefcase that were organised in chronological order had been rifled through and returned in an ad-hoc, and random fashion. Effectively, they had been thrown back into the briefcase. It might be assumed the person responsible was in a hurry and had found it necessary to throw the documents back into the briefcase in a rush and without care. As all the other members of the defence team had chosen not to leave any documentation in the consulting room over lunch it would seem that only Firefighter M. Hyde’s property could be confirmed as definitely interfered with.

On reporting the matter to Craig Jones the matter was reported to Suffolk County Council solicitor Mr Chris Jackson who found it funny and treated the matter with some amusement. The latter suggested it was the person’s own fault if they had left property laying about and unguarded.

Craig Jones instructed Firefighter M. Hyde to report the matter formally to senior Suffolk County Council officers.