Staffordshire Police officers in Kevin Nunes report will not be revealed

Earlier this year, the Express & Star won a year-long Freedom of Information battle with Staffordshire Police for the release of a secret damning dossier into the unit that handled the case.

The report revealed detectives went drinking with key witnesses, that two officers were having an affair whilst on duties, as well as allegations overtime expenses were being abused and there was in-fighting in the unit.

But the force 'redacted' the officers' names from the 73-page document, known as the Costello Report.

The file was never disclosed to the judge, jury or barristers at the original murder trial in 2007 and led to the murder convictions of five men jailed for life being overturned on appeal in 2012.

The Express & Star challenged the move to block publication of the names and other details but the Information Commissioner has ruled the force was correct not to identify officers because it could cause them 'distress'.

But Samantha Bracegirdle, a senior case officer within the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), said the force had 'incorrectly' redacted a paragraph that recommended that protected witness handlers should not drink alcohol while on duties with witnesses.

Ms Bracegirdle said: "The commissioner concludes that it would be unfair to the data subjects (the officers and witnesses) to disclose the requested information, and would therefore breach the first data protection principle.

"She is satisfied that disclosure would not be within their reasonable expectations; that it would be likely to have detrimental consequences for them; and that there are no wider legitimate interests to be served by disclosure which would be capable of outweighing their expectation of, and right to, privacy."

She added: "Taking into account the matters examined in the report, the Commissioner considers that disclosure would be very likely to cause distress to the data subjects, have an adverse impact on them and that in some cases, ít may endanger their safety."

The commissioner said the force had argued that revealing the witnesses' names would put their safety at risk.

However, the witnesses' names – Simeon Taylor and his mother Patricia Munn – are already in the public domain and the force dumped both of them from the protected witness scheme just weeks after the original court case concluded.

In total 14 officers were investigated as part of a police watchdog corruption inquiry, known as Operation Kalmia, into the Nunes affair.

Those already named publicly include current Staffordshire Chief Constable Jane Sawyers, ex-Northamptonshire Chief Constable Adrian Lee, former Gloucestershire Chief Constable Suzette Davenport, West Midlands Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale, former Staffordshire Chief Superintendent Geoff White, and Detective Constable Nigel Sargeant.

None of those named were criminally charged or faced any disciplinary action.

All worked at Staffordshire Police at some point during the original murder probe but their exact roles in the case have never been officially confirmed.

Out of the 14 officers only one junior officer faced further action in the form of management advice.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is yet to publish its final report – two-and-half years after it was concluded but has said it found no evidence of a 'cover-up'.

Kevin Nunes, 20, of Whitmore Reans, was killed in a gangland drugs turf war and his body was found in a country lane in Pattingham in 2002.

He was a promising footballer at Stafford Rangers and had been on the books of Tottenham Hotspur.