Plebgate MP in ‘16 other clashes’
FORMER Cabinet Minister Andrew Mitchell was involved in 16 separate incidents with Downing Street police before the “Plebgate” row forced his resignation, the High Court heard yesterday.
It also emerged that the ex-Chief Whip has already spent £150,000 employing experts in a bid to clear his name.
One academic was paid £80,000 to calculate the time it would have taken to deliver his alleged “59 syllable” tirade.
Another “field of vision” specialist got £70,000 to work out if the policeman at the centre of the row could see members of the public standing nearby.
The astonishing bill, which does not include his legal costs, emerged as the judge, Mr Justice Warby, warned that the litigation was threatening to spin out of control.
The Sutton Coldfield MP, 58, admits swearing but denies calling police officers “plebs” in the December 2012 row.
PC Keith Wallis, 53, was later jailed for 12 months after falsely claiming to have witnessed it.
The MP is suing The Sun for publishing the original story.
But PC Toby Rowland, the officer he clashed with, is also suing Mr Mitchell for calling him a “serial liar”.
At the pretrial hearing, the MP’s barrister James Price sought permission to rely on expert evidence.
The hearing continues.