The cover design to Guy Mackenzie's new book 'A Reluctant Aristocrat'.

A Reluctant Aristocrat: Assorted Memories of My Unconventional Life - New Chapters

By
Guy Mackenzie

Postscript Part Three - I Win My Claim but Devon & Cornwall Police "Got it Wrong"

I also recall that on Friday 7th October, I had a long telephone conversation with PC Mallatratt. He started by saying he’d spoken to the BMW driver and there was nothing to investigate as I’d pulled out on him although speed may have had some bearing on the collision. He also told me he’d spoken to Mr. Webb but hadn’t taken a statement from him either because he wasn’t really a witness to the collision (this was untrue - he was!).

I then questioned him in detail and made contemporaneous notes. He told me:

  1. The evidence tends to support the BMW’s active speeding prior to the collision.
  2. But the onus is on you (i.e. me) to ensure the carriageway is clear in both directions prior to pulling out from a junction.
  3. There is nothing to substantiate what speed the BMW driver was doing when he hit your car.
  4. He was planning to issue a Police Report (he didn’t or, if he did, it has never been disclosed).
    During this conversation PC Mallatratt kept referring to the BMW driver by his first name. In contrast he always called me Mr. Mackenzie. Were they friends or acquaintances, I wonder?

PC Mallatratt seemed to question why I was bothering to pursue this matter as I’d been paid out. He didn’t appear to be interested in getting to the truth of what had actually happened and/or whether a crime had been committed.

11th October. I emailed PC Mallatratt to ask if he had obtained a statement from the BMW driver, as I had been made to do, and if he had interviewed the BMW driver under caution as PC Parkin had intended. Also to ask, if not, why not.

PC Mallatratt didn’t reply to my email despite two reminders. Then, 18th October, I was informed that he’d “gone off sick” and correspondence should be addressed to Sergeant Andy Cloke.

But before “he’d gone off sick”, Sharon rang me to say that PC Mallatratt had telephoned her - much to her surprise. We discussed the possible reasons for this atypical intervention several times over the next eighteen or so months...

Then in an email dated 22nd November, PC Mallatratt told me he had telephoned Sharon to answer “my questions” (which he apparently hadn’t). But, in any case, why should he answer “my questions” to someone else? Was he acting impartially? Or was he actually trying to persuade Sharon that I was mainly to blame? Was this, in fact, evidence of what we now refer to as “two tier policing” - perceived as one rule for one and another for another?

From then on “the plot thickened”...

I forwarded my last email to PC Mallatratt onto Sgt. Andy Cloke and, in a lengthy response, dated 15th October, he replied:

I was astounded by his reply which stated that there were “no independent witnesses” and that, in blaming me for the actual collision, he was acting judge and jury and I had been found guilty!

So I emailed him again reminding him that I had an email from an independent witness (a Mr. Webb) which stated that he “witnessed the black BMW strike the Land Rover”. Also that PC Parkin had confirmed receipt of this and my pictures which were all now on Police Files.

Sgt. Cloke wrote back on 21st October repeating that PC Mallatratt “… was unable to identify any independent witnesses to the actual collision” although he also stated “There were other independent witnesses to the other driver’s manner of driving prior to the collision but NOT of the actual collision”. He repeated that “You have pulled out in the path of the BMW driver has resulted in the collision”.

So I emailed him again and on 29th October I received a response stating “I am away on leave/course till the 31st December 2022… please refer to Insp. Greg Hodgkiss”. (I privately wondered how many emails I’d have to write to result in the entire Devon & Cornwall Police force “going sick” or go on “on leave” or on a “course”?)

I immediately forwarded my email to Insp. Hodgkiss who never replied.

As a consequence I complained to my MP, Derek Thomas who then wrote to the Chief Constable. He also didn’t receive a reply. So he wrote again but still didn’t get a reply. However Derek Thomas did then contact the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner, Alison Hernandez and, in due course, received a response from Supt. Ben Deer saying that he would task Insp. Billy Elliott to undertake a report into the matter.

I received Insp. Billy Elliott’s report which was dated 16th December 2022 (DT89712) which included the following conclusions:

Although Insp. Elliott may well have “read the statements, viewed the photos and the scene measurements” (which he described as “such as they are” which translates as “not very good, useful or important”), his report didn’t appear to have been based on much of the available evidence. In fact his report seemed to mainly rely on what Sgt. Cloke had written to me… “I concur with the update Sgt. Cloke has given to Sir Guy…”.

I had already started to wonder of the Police were “closing ranks” on me and I asked my friend, Martin Kennedy-Bell LL.B. (Hons.) F.C.I.I. (who had been head of Insurance at Hammersmith & Fulham Borough Council prior to his retirement), to review the documentation and give me his opinion. He concluded that “The Police are on the side of the BMW driver”.

I then wrote again to Derek Thomas on 3rd January 2023 that “… a report such as this which lacks much detail or fact, especially when they are available and significant, would be considered unfit for purpose.” I didn’t get a response and so I then asked Derek Thomas if he would ask Supt. Deer to telephone me. On, I recall, 1st March Supt. Deer did ring me and I remember that, just before our conversation ended, he did seem to give credence to my point of view and said that he would speak to Insp. Elliott and try to understand how he reached the conclusions he did - which I appreciated.

I didn’t hear from Supt. Deer again although later in 2023 I did email him to ask if he’d spoken to Insp. Elliott and, if so, what was his response. I didn’t get a reply.

Meanwhile, after receiving Insp. Elliott’s report in December, I discussed it with Sharon. In due course she contacted me to say that she would ask their engineers to try and get possession of the BMW’s ignition key so the speed of the BMW, at the moment of collision, could be checked via its connection to the satellite.

It took several months to obtain the key but unfortunately, when it was checked, no definitive reading could be obtained.

Later that year, Sharon contacted me to say that she’d again spoken to their engineers who would try and get hold of the BMW’s airbags and, if they were able to do this, they could be then sent off to Germany for the sensors to be checked which should give us the speed of the BMW at the moment of collision.

Long story short, in November Sharon telephoned me to say that the airbag sensors had been checked and that they confirmed the speed of the BMW as 104mph at the moment of collision!

So there was the proof that I wasn’t responsible of the collision, it was caused by the speed of the BMW.

In fact it wasn’t until 2024 that the insurers of the BMW finally accepted liability and, as a consequence, my Insurance Excess was repaid and my No Claims Bonus was reinstated. My insurers also gave me a discount on my previous year’s insurance premium and a “loyalty bonus” of £60. What a result!

Now to backtrack… on 23rd November 2023 I wrote again to my MP, advised him of the proof of the BMW’s speed as 104mph and asked him to put certain questions to the Police which included:

I also sought their confirmation that I was not to blame for the collision. And I asked for an unconditional apology.

Derek Thomas didn’t receive a reply to the questions I’d raised. However Insp. Elliott emailed me on 3rd December and invited me to meet him at Camborne Traffic Centre “I will show you all I have, we’ll watch the video, look through the photos and pick apart the accounts”. He added “Please bring all the evidence and anything you feel will help to clarify how this collision occurred.”

What Insp. Elliott didn’t seem (or maybe didn’t want) to understand was that the time to assess the evidence had now gone. I and my insurers knew how and why the collision occurred. It was the speed of the BMW travelling at 104mph in a 60mph limit that had caused the collision. Looking through and “picking apart” the evidence was yesterday’s fight. My insurers had won the claim and I simply didn’t want to waste my time re-fighting a battle I’d won. I asked him to reply to the questions I’d raised and offered to meet him when he’d done this.

On 8th December Insp. Elliott emailed me again saying “I would start to reply but I fear each email would create another and then another”. It seemed clear to me that he didn’t want to put anything in writing or take up my invitation to meet him.

In due course, as it took some time to arrive, I received a letter dated 25th March 2024 from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner inviting me to make a complaint to the Professional Standards Department of Devon and Cornwall Police. I didn’t feel inclined to do this as my complaint would be to an organisation “which marked its own homework” which I’d already found to be “wanting”.

So following some correspondence in which I politely explained that I didn’t wish to make a complaint, and that I merely wanted the questions, in my letter dated 27th November 2023, answered and an apology etc. I got a reply from a Mrs. Ainsworth dated 11th June which stated “I have forwarded on your questions to Insp. Elliott to ask that contact is made with you directly with a response”. I didn’t receive a reply from Insp. Elliott so I sent reminders to Mrs. Ainsworth on 15th July and another on 18th September.

The on 21st October Mrs. Ainsworth wrote again saying “He (Insp. Elliott) does not feel that there is anything further he can add to the information that he has already provided and has advised that he does not propose to answer the further questions from you”. So I was correct, he didn’t want to put anything in writing and now he wasn’t speaking to me. Ha!

Nevertheless I persevered and emailed him on 29th October, copying the email to Supt. Deer and Supt. Asprey. I wrote “I understand from Mrs. Ainsworth that you have *provided all the information* I required in answer to my letter dated 27th November 2023”. I asked him to send me a copy “so this matter may be concluded without further delay…”.

Insp. Elliott didn’t reply but Supt. Asprey did, saying that “Insp. Elliott’s next working day will be 5th November where I’m sure he will provide a response”. Also “I hope you will find this satisfactory”. Of course I replied that I did. Was this a breakthrough at last?

But no! I heard nothing and so contacted Supt. Asprey again on 13th January 2025. He replied the same day attaching a copy of Insp. Elliott’s report dated 16th December 2022! I wrote again to Supt. Asprey pointing out that the replies I wanted were in answer to my letter dated 27th November 2023 (which included questions resulting from Insp. Elliott’s report) – just in case there had been a misunderstanding.

But I didn’t hear from either of them again which was very disappointing.

In reality nobody in Devon and Cornwall Police, apart from PC Parkin (who’d obviously been “hauled over the coals” for doing his duty) seemed to have the slightest interest in investigating a serious accident or the crime of driving at a very high speed (as confirmed by the airbag sensors).

And there has never been a Police Report.

An image of Guy's letter to the August 8th 2025 edition of the St Ives Times & Echo newspaper.

So, in brief summary:

Confused? I was, and when I asked “why”, I didn’t get an answer.

The Devon and Cornwall Police who were involved, after PC Mallatratt had taken over the investigation, had simply “got it wrong” and “closed ranks”. Were they hoping, that the longer they “fobbed me off”, I’d just get “fed-up” and go away? But, apologies to all concerned, I ain’t going nowhere – not just yet anyway!

Consequently I decided that these recollections of my involvement with some members of Devon and Cornwall Police over these three years might be of interest to my readers. That’s why they are included in the Second Edition of the Assorted Memories of this “Reluctant Aristocrat”.

Authors note:

The transcript of these three chapters were sent to PC Lee Mallatratt, Sgt. Andy Cloke and Insp. Billy Elliott (and some others mentioned) on 2nd July 2025 inviting their comments within 28 days. None of them have ever replied.

Also the same transcript was sent to Alison Hernandez, Police Crime Commissioner for Devon & Cornwall. Her office responded on 2nd July 2025: " ...you will receive a response within 20 working days".

I have never had a reply from her.

Guy's comment:

"Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose."