By Georgia Graham, Political Correspondent10:45PM GMT 26 Nov 2013Follow
Andrew Mitchell was on Tuesday night locked in a new dispute with the police after he accused a serving officer of lying over the Plebgate scandal.
The former Conservative chief whip made the accusation against Pc Toby Rowland, who wrote a police log saying Mr Mitchell had called officers at the Downing Street gate “f------ plebs”.
However, Mr Rowlands said he was prepared to go to court and swear on oath that Mr Mitchell used the word “pleb” during the argument last year.
The comments suggest that a jury hearing a libel case brought by Mr Mitchell against The Sun newspaper will soon have to rule whether a senior politician or a police officer is lying.
The Crown Prosecution Service on Tuesday decided not to bring charges against Pc Rowland. Mr Mitchell disputes his account in the police log, but prosecutors said there was “insufficient evidence” to suggest that Pc Rowland was lying about the incident. Nor will the officer face police disciplinary action.
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Alison Saunders, the director of public prosecutions, said there was also insufficient evidence “to show that Mr Mitchell was the victim of a conspiracy of misinformation”, as he has claimed.
One serving officer has been charged over allegations that he provided a false account of the Downing Street incident to another Conservative MP. Eight others will face disciplinary action.
The outcome of a prolonged investigation ended the hopes of Mr Mitchell’s supporters that he would be entirely vindicated, allowing him to resume his ministerial career.
Mr Mitchell held a press conference, at which he accused the police of failing to investigate allegations against their own officers properly. Rejecting the CPS conclusion concerning a conspiracy, he insisted that officers had colluded to “toxify” the Conservative Party and “destroy” his political career.
“Armed police officers guarding officials in Downing Street have stitched up one of those they were supposed to be protecting,” he said.
“I wish now to make clear that Pc Toby Rowland, who was responsible for writing those toxic phrases into his notebook, was not telling the truth.
“I will seek to say this on oath in a court of law and it is our intention to ensure that Pc Toby Rowland has similarly to swear his account.”
He added that the “phrases attributed to me are completely untrue”.
The officer who will be prosecuted is Pc Keith Wallis, 53, who allegedly sent an email to John Randall, then Mr Mitchell’s deputy, pretending to be a member of the public who witnessed the gate incident.
The altercation on Sept 19 last year was captured on CCTV and took place after police officers refused to allow Mr Mitchell to open the gates of Downing Street to let him pass on his bicycle. The police log of the incident recorded that Mr Mitchell called police “f------ plebs”, a phrase he has always denied using. He admits using the f-word and being warned by officers about his language.
Over the past 14 months, the police have arrested five officers and three civilians in relation to the incident.
In the press conference, Mr Mitchell showed a fuller version of the CCTV footage of the altercation. He argued that it proved it would have been impossible for him to utter the 40 words that police claimed included the offending phrase, in the six seconds he was in earshot of Pc Rowland.
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