"The Independent Police Complaints Commission has now verified that the documents that the Lynette White trial at Swansea Crown Court on 1 December 2011 was told may have been destroyed have been discovered and were not shredded as first thought.
"The court was told that some enquiries had been made about documents relating to complaints made to the IPCC itself and that it seemed that these documents may have been shredded on the orders of South Wales Police Senior Investigating Officer Chris Coutts.
“The documents were found in the original boxes that the IPCC had sent through to SWP as part of the trial disclosure process in 2009. These boxes were still in the possession of SWP and have subsequently been verified.
"The IPCC investigation has not yet concluded and will also need to establish what happened to these two files of documents. The IPCC will also continue to liaise with the review being carried out by the Director of Public Prosecutions. We have of course informed the Director of Public Prosecutions about the discovery of these documents.
"The IPCC will of course publish its findings in due course.”
On 1 December 2011 the prosecution in the Lynette White trial at Swansea Crown Court offered no evidence and all 10 defendants were acquitted.
The IPCC investigation is into possible actions by police officers following the voluntary referral of the disclosure matter by South Wales Police.
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