The Snorkelling Squad: Sent Out To Solve Caribbean Murder Spree At The Beach
First there was the Sunshine Squad … now meet the Snorkelling Squad.
After a Scotland Yard team faced an outcry over their antics on a Caribbean island two years ago, colleagues in another force might have been expected to keep a low profile on their arrival at the same location.
But, as these pictures show, one of Britain’s top police officers and two of his colleagues did not stint on their leisure activities after starting an international ‘crime-fighting mission’ in Grand Cayman this week.
Sun, sea and snorkelling: Jon Murphy, Chief Constable of Merseyside, on his boat trip following his pledge on an island news website that his work in helping solve a gangland murder spree 'absolutely won't be a jolly'
There is no suggestion that the officers should not have any free time during their all-expenses-paid trip to the Caribbean, financed by the Cayman government.
Protection: Mr Murphy applies sun lotion in the 85F heat
Problems in Merseyside, where 650 police face losing their jobs because of budget cuts, must seem a world away.
It was in 2009 that Scotland Yard officers were nicknamed the Sunshine Squad after being photographed sleeping on duty and drinking heavily while working on a shambolic police corruption investigation which cost £8million.
A married officer was sent home after an affair with a local woman, while an island judge received £1million compensation for being arrested unlawfully.
‘I won’t comment on what past police operations may or may not have done,’ Mr Murphy told the Cayman iNews before arriving on Monday. ‘But this absolutely will not be a jolly.’
Over two days, Mr Murphy and his team were seen
relaxing on the beach, enjoying a four-hour boat trip and swimming with
giant stingrays on a beautiful coral reef
Problems in Merseyside, where 650 police face losing their jobs because of budget cuts, must seem a world away
On Wednesday morning they spent almost an hour before breakfast snorkelling near the £110-a-night hotel.
At 4pm Mr Murphy was back at the beach in swimming shorts and wraparound orange-tinted shades and was soon joined by his colleagues.
After nearly an hour they were driven in by a downpour but reconvened to drink beer in the lobby bar before being driven off to dinner.
Keeping an eye out for suspects: The police chiefs watch the girls go by...
Mr Murphy is still in his orange-tinted shades, accompanied by Tony Doherty, on the left, and Brian McNeil
Sixteen rank-and-file officers from the North
West will soon be following in their bosses' footsteps on a six-week
mission to help investigate a spate of gangland murders
The all-expenses-paid trip to the Caribbean is being financed by the Cayman government
Following a four-hour trip, they drank beer in the hotel bar before a £223 meal at an Italian restaurant.
Mr Murphy is two years into a five-year contract as Merseyside chief constable. He is national co-ordinator for serious and organised crime with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and regarded by many as a ‘safe pair of hands’.
Some have tipped him as a potential future deputy commissioner at Scotland Yard, under new Met boss Bernard Hogan-Howe.
Former Met chief Sir Paul Stephenson stepped down in July after it emerged he had accepted a £12,000 freebie at a health farm.
The Cayman police commissioner asked for Mr Murphy’s help as the UK’s foremost police expert on gangland crime, following five gang-related murders in nine days.
The team on their four-hour boat trip
It's thirsty work, this international crime fighting: The team enjoying a beer in the evening
He then explained how he and his two colleagues had reviewed the Royal Cayman Island Police Force's gangland murder spree investigation.
He listed a series of meetings he had undertaken with the local police, the Cayman Island's elected assembly, the island's governor, the Portfolio for Youth and education officials.
Of the gangland killings, he said: 'They have a very small police force and are very stretched.
'An investigation such as this, with five murders in nine days, is a big challenge for them.'
Asked was it really necessary for a chief constable to make the journey himself, Mr Murphy said: 'I was not prepared to ask my men to do anything I wouldn't be prepared to do myself.'
When told he had been seen around the hotel enjoying a reasonable amount of 'down time', he said: 'I had Thursday afternoon off and we have had a couple of half hours on the beach when we have finished work.'
When told he had been seen sunbathing in the middle of the day, he grew agitated and replied: 'Frankly, we have worked our nuts off this week.'
It was put to Mr Murphy that was not the impression observers had been left with.
'I have given very good value to the people of the Cayman Islands.'
Asked about the value of his Caribbean trip to the people of Merseyside, where he was a public servant, he replied: 'The people of Merseyside will have to make a judgment on what they feel about my visit on the basis of how the trip is reported.'
He was told the amount of sunbathing, snorkelling and time he had spent on a boat trip certainly didn't look very good.
'I will have to deal with the consequences then, won't I?' he said, before terminating the interview.
Additional reporting: David Leigh
TIME LINE OF THE 'CRIME-FIGHTING' MISSION IN GRAND CAYMAN
WEDNESDAY7am: Mr Murphy and his two right-hand men arrive at the beach in their swimming shorts and dive straight into the Caribbean.
7.50am: After a swim and a snorkel, they towel off.
8.15am: Breakfast.
9am: Mr Murphy is driven from the hotel by a senior officer from the local Royal Cayman Island Police Service.
9.35am: Mr Murphy’s two colleagues drive themselves from the hotel in a hire car.
4pm: Mr Murphy is back at the hotel and immediately back on his sun lounger. A few minutes later, he is joined by his two fellow officers. Mr Murphy snorkels for 15 minutes, then continues to sunbathe.
5pm: Heavy tropical shower forces all three to return to their rooms.
6.45pm: Bar meeting followed by dinner.
THURSDAY
8am: Chief Constable Murphy arrives for breakfast and dines alone.
8.40am: 40minute meeting in the hotel lobby.
9.45am: Arrives on the beach and sunbathes on a lounger until 11.02am before going back to room.
Noon: Leaves the hotel with Det Chief Supt Doherty.
1.19pm: Mr Murphy is back on the beach. Both his colleagues join him five minutes later.
1.53pm: Trio leave the beach in their swimming shorts and walk straight to a hire car.
2.10pm: Board a small speedboat, which, after a coolbox has been loaded onboard, set off. They go straight to a sandbar and snorkel in an area renowned for its giant stingrays. After 45 minutes, they move to a coral reef.
6.12pm: The trio return to their hotel before heading for the bar.
7.40pm: They leave for a nearby Italian restaurant. After a £223 meal, which included bottles of Californian Pinot Noir and New Zealand Sauvignon, they return to their hotel at 10.20pm - and go straight to bed.
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