Return of the Sunshine Squad
Police in £1m hunt for Ben enjoy boozy night on Kos ... now top cop is recalled
A TEAM from scandal-hit South Yorkshire Police enjoyed a latenight drinking session in Kos hours after renewing a campaign to find missing toddler Ben Needham.
Reports of their behaviour prompted the force to recall a senior officer to the UK last night to ‘provide details of exactly what has happened’.
Twelve members of the Operation Ben team have flown to the Greek island to relaunch the search for the Sheffield toddler who disappeared while on a holiday in 1991 aged 21 months.
His family’s hopes have been boosted by the new search – funded by £1 million of public money.
Nine detectives, three support staff and two Press officers were appointed to the project, with a maximum of 12 people in Kos at one time. Some of the core team flew to the popular holiday resort on Sunday and will stay for the entire two-week duration.
But on day one of the campaign – just hours after the Press conference to launch it – the police team started sampling the delights of the island.
They began drinking in the sun at 5pm on Tuesday on the terrace of their boutique Aktis Hotel, which boasts sea views, a spa and a chauffeur car service.
Detective Inspector Jon Cousins, who is spearheading the campaign, was seen drinking beer with four other detectives who had arrived on the island just hours before. Detective Superintendent Matt Fenwick – who was heavily criticised for leaking details of a raid on Sir Cliff Richard’s home in 2014 – arrived at 5.30pm, and the majority of the group came together at 8pm at a family pizzeria, Amaryllis, to drink more beer and wine.
The group left the restaurant to walk into Kos Old Town for dinner, but returned at 11.30pm for nightcaps, and to watch the second half of West Ham’s match against Manchester United.
Det Supt Fenwick had moved on to red wine by the time the jovial group returned to the restaurant, and he left at 12.33am.
DI Cousins was the last person to retire to bed, at 1.24am. The next morning, the police-hosted Press conference started 20 minutes late, and lasted less than half an hour.
The team downed 17 pints of beer at the Amaryllis restaurant, whose owner described the officers as being ‘good for business’ after recognising them from previous trips.
‘ They’ve stayed at the Atkis before,’ he said. ‘They like a drink to wind down and enjoy themselves but [they’re] never any trouble.’
The inquiry comes after a Metropolitan Police team was nicknamed the ‘Sunshine Squad’ after spending 21 months in the Cayman Islands during a £4 million undercover operation into police corruption that did not result in any convictions. Yester- day one of the Operation Ben detectives was seen jogging in Kos Old Town at 3.55pm – and was later seen strolling in the 28C (82F) sunshine enjoying an ice cream.
Det Supt Fenwick said last night: ‘There is no alcohol [bought] on public money. We’re not going out and drinking loads of alcohol. We’re desperately trying to find Ben and we’re working really hard.’
South Yorkshire Police said last night: ‘The team in Kos have been working on investigating the disappearance of Ben Needham for a number of years.
‘We’re absolutely committed to this investigation. Following concerns raised regarding the behav- iour of some of those involved, the senior officer has been recalled to the UK with immediate effect to provide the details of exactly what has happened. An internal investigation will follow.’
The senior officer has not been named. It comes in the week that five South Yorkshire officers appeared in court accused of using the force helicopter’s thermal imaging camera to film couples having sex.
The force has also been under fire for its handling of the Rotherham sex abuse scandal and its cover-up of the true events of the Hillsborough stadium disaster.