Star comment: Let’s drawa line under this shame

It is approaching three years since the Independent Police Complaints Commission completed its probe into what went wrong.

From the Court of Appeal judgement and our own investigation we know general details over why the murder convictions of five men were overturned.

But the public has never been privy to what ex-Chief Constable Mick Creedon discovered in his Operation Kalmia inquiry. And, crucially, the identities of those involved have largely been kept under wraps.

The public has an absolute right to be told what went wrong in this case and who contributed to the collapse of a brutal murder that shocked the Black Country and Staffordshire.

Likewise, the public will be deeply suspicious of why it is taking so long to publish a report which was completed at the end of 2014.

There are also legitimate questions to be answered as to why it appears that the subjects of the independent investigation into alleged police wrongdoing are allowed to influence what material can be made public.

It was nearly 15 years ago that the amateur footballer was gunned down in Pattingham.

It is completely unacceptable that his family are still waiting for answers.

The IPCC has to be about justice, transparency and confidence in this country’s police service.

But this sorry episode has demonstrated nothing of the sort.

The Express & Star makes no apology for doggedly pursuing the truth in this story.

The integrity of our police is of paramount importance.

Like Staffordshire Police we all want to move on from the failings of a decade ago – but we cannot let them be swept under the carpet.

It does nobody any favours by prolonging this fiasco.

The truth and trust go hand in hand.

Had the watchdog published its report three years ago all those concerned could have got on with their lives. For everyone’s sake, we implore the IPCC to publish its full report without further delay and put this shocking case behind us once and for all.