POLICE are to pay compensation to two of their officers caught up in the terror raid which led to the death of DC Stephen Oake.
Two other officers are poised to sue Greater Manchester Police after the Special Branch detective was stabbed to death by Algerian terrorist Kamel Bourgass.
The Manchester Evening News has established that GMP has accepted liability over two officers, although no figure has been agreed for damages.
A decision has yet to be reached in the two other cases where legal action is under way.
DC Oake, 40, died of multiple stab wounds suffered during the ill-fated swoop on a Crumpsall flat in January 2003. Four other officers were injured.
Involved
A police spokesman said: "We are aware that a number of officers who were involved in the operation in which Detective Constable Stephen Oake died have instigated civil proceedings against the force. Due to the ongoing legal procedures, we cannot comment any further."
DC Oake, from Poynton, left a widow, Lesley, and three teenage children.
It is understood that Mrs Oake will not make any claim for damages from GMP.
In court it was established her husband died trying to prevent Bourgass from escaping. Other officers were attacked as they went to help him.
Bourgass had been arrested and kept in a bedroom with a third man, guarded by Pc Nigel Fleming and DC Oake, while two other officers kept watch on a second man in the lounge.
After being held for an hour Bourgass became agitated and punched Pc Fleming in the groin before grabbing a six-inch knife from the nearby kitchen.
He stabbed and slashed four officers, killing DC Oake.
Handcuffs
During Bourgass’s trial, Greater Manchester Police faced criticism for not using handcuffs on the men.
Officers had been unaware of Bourgass’s identity and had not all been wearing stab-proof vests.
Bourgass, 31, was jailed for life in June 2004 after being found guilty of murdering DC Oake and the attempted murder and wounding of other police officers during the raid.
In a separate trial, he was also convicted of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance through the manufacture of ricin poison.
Bourgass was being sought by %police after they discovered evidence of a ricin and explosives plot in his flat in Wood Green, London, in 2002.
His attempt to overturn the murder conviction earlier this year was rejected.
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Its an absolute disgrace these officers making claims,they know what the job involves when they join,thats why the pay and benifits are so good. What sort of country would we be if every nurse, fireman ,teacher or lots of others for that matter were to claim for each incident they were involved in(A SAD ONE) there just a bunch of wussies. i think GMP stands for Greater Manchester Parasites.
Another example of the compensation culture. Surely these officers should respect the memory of Stephen Oake and appreciate he died serving the public. His wife isn't seeking compensation and these money grabbing police officers make me sick
bourgas and all people like him should be hung ,money is small payment for the loss of a husband ,my heart go,s out to pc oakes wife who must be still suffering to this day at her loss,off course the do gooders will be sounding off as usual against capital punishment ,but how many murderers have been set free only to murder again ,best of luck to the other officers concerned ,who are so often in a no win situation in cases like this .
The correct headline would be that we, taxpayers, pay out.
All this just goes to show that England has gone to the dogs. UK cops have every right in the world to be armed (by any means) like the police in the USA. I would never migrate to Britain even if I were given a big discount for it!!
sorry about the loss of the officer sympathy to his family.Maybe now we need to look at retraining our police officer's
Annon Wembley WA, being armed wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference in this case. As usual Americans always think guns solve everything when they don't. Im very proud to live in a country where my local bobby doesn't carry a gun around with them. Arm HM Constabulary and they will totally loose public confidence and approachability. When being in the US I was more nervous of cops as they all had guns! Didn't make me feel very safe. Don't forget gun crime here is a tiny fraction to the absolute ludicrous amount of people shot dead over there. You can keep you guns.
how can they sue??? unless command that told them NOT to handcuff the guy (when they requested it) I can not understand how they can sue. Its like a racing driver suing his team after crashing because he made a mistake.
In reply to Anon from USA, it is not only the USA where the police have firearms, they also have in EVERY European country. Britain is too arrogant to learn from Europe on security, probably because of James Bond or some other clap trap. The Oake family should be compensated for its horrendous loss and the senior police who are so namby pamby as to send unarmed police to arrest Al Quaida men should be disciplined and sacked.
In replyto David,
The police did not go to arrest terrorists, they went to an alledged illegal imigrant. That is why DC Oakes was not wearing a stab proof vest and the "suspects" were not handcuffed (even after one hour). Now in the last sentence you may find that there where a couple of "errors" which cotributed to the tragic death of the DC.
bourgas was a failed asylum seeker i am informed ,of course i stand corrected ,but if this is true the immigration authorities should be sued for not deporting this low life in the first place .
I have, in the past few days, had cause to be extremely grateful to GMP officers when a 'deranged' person tried to gain entry to my home.
I'm not a weak or vulnerable senior citizen; rather a strapping 15-stone man - yet I was terrorised an intimidated until police arrived to deal with the 'confused' man.
They just got 'stuck in', not knowing whether a weapon was present, and myself and my family will be eternally grateful to all concerned.
The 'compensation' culture is with us - deal with it. And I, for one, would not distinguish between claims by police - or other emergency service employee - and the rest of society, many of whom do jobs the overwhelming majority of the public couldn't handle.