“Plebgate” police officer to sue Tory MP Andrew Mitchell for libel

Photograph by Photo by David Iliff

PC Toby Roland, the police officer at the centre of the “plebgate” scandal, is to sue Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell for libel over the incident.

Rowland was on duty at Downing Street when Mitchell tried to get him to ignore protocol and open the gates so he could cycle through the car entrance in September 2012. When he refused, there was a heated exchange in which Mitchell admitted to swearing at the officer, saying “You guys are supposed to fucking help us”.

However, Rowland contends that beyond that statement, Mitchell also said:

“Best you learn your fucking place. You don’t run this fucking government … You’re fucking plebs…You haven’t heard the last of this”

Mitchell denies using the words “pleb” or “moron”, and has accused Rowland of “not telling the truth”, suing the Sun newspaper for first publishing an account of the incident. However, on 26th November the Crown Prosecution Service found that there was insufficient evidence to show that Rowland had lied in his report. Nonetheless, Mitchell has said that he would like to see Rowland repeat his claims under oath in court “to allow a decision to be made between my account and his”.

In response to Mitchell’s actions and the implication that he had lied in his police report, Rowland has issued a letter of claim against Mitchell for libel.

A Police Federation spokesman said:

“We can confirm that PC Toby Rowland yesterday issued a letter of claim for libel against Andrew Mitchell MP. This relates to comments he made following the media-termed Plebgate incident in Downing Street in 2012. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this time while there are ongoing legal issues.”