Police officers in Nunes murder case will not face prosecution
Five police officers investigated over the botched probe into the murder of drug dealer Kevin Nunes on the Shropshire border will not be prosecuted, lawyers said today.
They were among six current or former Staffordshire officers scrutinised over their handling of a protected witness in connection with the 2002 murder.
Former footballer Mr Nunes was shot dead in Pattingham and five men were jailed for a total of 135 years.
But their convictions were quashed in 2012 following the release of a report detailing blunders by Staffordshire Police.
The Crown Prosecution Service said today it had investigated allegations that those dealing with witness Simeon Taylor and his immediate supervisors had perverted the course of justice by failing to record and report that he had potentially stolen money, thus presenting him in a better light.
But they said there was not enough evidence to prosecute five of the officers, three of whom are now retired from Staffordshire Police. A sixth officer forms part of a second investigation into how nine officers handled the murder probe. The names of the officers who face no further action have not been revealed by the CPS.
Nunes was said to have been a "big dealer" in Scotland but more "established" dealers became angry. Nunes was driven by his killers down a country lane near The Fox pub at Shipley before he was shot. He had five gunshot wounds.
