Kevin Nunes murder: Why the E&S will not give up fighting for the truth

He was pistol-whipped and shot multiple times after being lured to a remote country lane on the edge of Wolverhampton.

The execution-style killing was headline news.

But not even Kevin's family would have expected his name and picture to be plastered over the front pages 14 years on, writes Rob Golledge.

His murder on September 18, 2002 would spawn one of the country's biggest police scandals a decade later.

Three Chief Constables and an Assistant Chief Constable, who were all some way involved in the case while at Staffordshire Constabulary, were placed under criminal investigation in a move believed to be without precedent.

In total 14 officers were informed they were subject to the Independent Police Complaints Commission probe known as Operation Kalmia.

It is extremely rare that convictions of any type are overturned by the courts – let alone a murder case.

And when they are it is normally down to points of law – not a series of police failings or, as a leading counsel puts it, 'inpropriety'.

Just how did the death of a small-time drug dealer spark an inquiry with such wide reaching implications?

That is a question this newspaper has been asking since the convictions were quashed in 2012.

Some of the key signposts sit in the Court of Appeal judgment handed down at the time.

But the possibility of criminal charges and further police gross misconduct charges that sprouted out from the quashed verdicts meant what was known was limited.

Until recently the identities of those involved have largely been withheld.

Likewise who did what has never been fully in the public domain.

A lengthy investigation spanning three years published this week by this newspaper has put real flesh on the bones, allowing the public to have the fullest view yet about what went on in this shameful episode.

The IPCC report completed its investigation two years ago this week around the same time the Crown Prosecution Service said it would not charge any of the 14 officers.

In March last year the Police and Crime Commissioners of Staffordshire, Gloucestershire, and Northamptonshire, who had to be consulted over disciplinary matters for chief officers, made it clear they felt there was no case to answer.

Yet 20 months on the IPCC still has not released its report.

It is a move that the South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson, the Government Chief Whip and a Privy Counsellor, has branded as a 'disgrace'.

Even Staffordshire Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis, who disagreed with the recommendations from Operation Kalmia and voiced concerns over the investigation, told me: "There have been no winners in any aspect of Kalmia but the biggest losers of all must be public confidence in the system and the distress caused for individuals on every side of this situation."

He adds: "Kalmia proves beyond doubt that the previous Home Secretary's (now the Prime Minister) decision to review the way the IPCC functions was absolutely the right thing to do."

In the background the Express & Star has been fighting another battle with Staffordshire Police to release another report, known as the Costello Report.

It is a key document that reveals that wrongdoing by officers was known way before the Nunes case came to trial.

Questions still remain answered.

And this newspaper believes that Staffordshire Police's integrity cannot be restored until the force acknowledges publicly the full extent of what went on.

Kevin Nunes was no angel, but nobody least of all his family, deserve to be put through what has happened since.

We will not let go.