Louisa Dunn

Response

I can confirm that Avon and Somerset Police hold information in relation to your request.    

  

Insofar as information has been made publicly available, it is available via other means and is therefore exempt under Section 21. For example, Avon and Somerset Police have previously published information about this case here and here, and the Crown Prosecution Service here.   

  

In relation to your request for information that has not been made publicly available, your request has been considered, is refused under the following sections of the act:     

  

• Section 30(1) – Investigations and proceedings conducted by a public authority     

• Section 38(1) – Health and Safety     

• Section 40(2) – Personal Information.         

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Section 40 is an Absolute exemption so therefore there is no requirement to conduct a harm or public interest test. Any information is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act if it relates to or is supplied by another individual and disclosure of that information would contravene any of the data protection principles set out in:      

  

(a) Article 5(1) of the GDPR, and     

(b) Section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018;   

  

A Freedom of Information Disclosure is a disclosure to the world. Therefore information that is provided can be viewed by any member of the public. To provide the information together as you have requested may have severe consequences. For example, an individual may be identified by another member of the public. Alternatively an individual could identify themselves, and be aware that their personal data has been used unlawfully.       

  

Should the information be provided in a format in which a living individual could be identified this would constitute personal data. This would then become a breach of rights provided under the Data Protection Act 2018. Information held on an individual by Avon and Somerset Constabulary is done so lawfully and is used for a policing purpose in line with the principles set out in the GDPR. Our privacy policy can be viewed here.      

  

Section 30 is a qualified and class based exemption which means that there is no requirement to identify and evidence the harm that would be caused by disclosure. However there is a requirement to consider the public interest in disclosure. This exemption applies to information held at any time for the purposes of an investigation, regardless of whether the case is ongoing or not.     

  

The public interest considerations for both Section 30 and 38 can be found further below. 

  

Section 38 is a qualified and prejudice based exemption therefore as well as considering the public interest in disclosure, there is a requirement to articulate the harm that would be caused by disclosure. Please see this below:      

  

Harm in disclosure (Section 38)      

The information requested relates to investigation into a murder. Releasing information additional to that which has already been provided as part of press releases would likely endanger the physical or mental health of the victim’s family and friends. Details provided as part of press releases will have been done so with the involvement and consideration of the families prior involved. Any further disclosure without the appropriate safeguards in place will likely cause additional distress to those involved. There is a need to limit disclosure to the public both throughout the investigation and following this, to protect the welfare of those involved who may have limited knowledge of events.      

  

Public Interest Considerations      

Factors favouring disclosure (Sections 30 and 38)     

Disclosure of the requested information may go some way to promote trust in the police service, demonstrating that the Constabulary robustly investigates offences of this nature and brings offenders to justice. Disclosure could lead to a better awareness of this type of investigation and enable a better informed debate to be undertaken. Furthermore, the public has a right to know that public funds are resourced appropriately.       

  

Factors favouring non-disclosure (Sections 30 and 38)     

Information relating to an investigation will rarely be disclosed under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.  The details around the offence and those involved in the investigation will not be publicly known outside of any information which has been released as part of a press statement. Any further disclosure could put at risk the integrity of future investigations of this kind. Although requests for information are considered on a case-by-case basis, disclosure on this occasion may set a precedent that we will release details of investigations and if this would in any way damage any court proceedings or appeals to convictions, this information would be deemed exempt.       

  

Release of the information without appropriate safeguards being considered is likely to expose individuals to distressing information and thus risk harm to their mental well-being. This would be relevant to the close friends and family of the victim as well as any other individual involved in the investigation. The Constabulary takes their responsibility to protect both the physical and mental health and safety of the communities we serve seriously and any information that could jeopardise this will not be released. The public would lose confidence in our commitment to protecting the wellbeing of our community.       

  

Balancing test     

After weighing up the competing interests, I have determined that the disclosure of the above information would not be in the public interest. I believe the importance of the factors favouring non-disclosure outweigh those considerations favouring disclosure.  At this time the potential harm outweighs any public benefit particularly as there are frequent press releases from the Constabulary in relation to these investigations. There is no further tangible community benefit in complying with section 1(1) (b) of the Act at this time.  In accordance with the Act, this letter represents a Refusal Notice for this part of your request. 

 

Please also be aware that the emergency number to call in the UK is 999.