Chief Inspector Greasley
Professional Standards Department

Dear Inspector Greasley,

I am in receipt of your letter dated 31st July 2020 in which you write that any appeal must be made within 28 days of an end of investigation letter and that my appeal is out of time, despite a correspondence, dated 24th June 2020, from Christopher Todd apologising for an "administrative error" that resulted in my appeal being "overlooked".

A letter, signed by Karen Burnham and dated 22nd August 2019 (presumably the correspondence referred to in your own letter as finalising a complaint on 22nd August 2019 by way of local resolution) was replied to almost immediately with an emailed confirmation of receipt being received on Friday 23rd August 2019 at 14:01; for your convenience, and for clarity, I shall reproduce its essential contents here:

Thank you for submitting your appeal form.

This has been forwarded to the Professional Standards Department as the relevant appeal body, and your appeal will be considered by a senior officer in that department. We aim to keep you updated every 28 days.

Here is a summary of the information you provided.
Your name: David Austin
Your email address: mail@dwaustin.net
Your phone number: 07747095166
Your address line 1: 162 High Street
Your address line 2: Lye Village
Your town or area: Stourbridge
Your postcode: DY9 8LT
Date which you made your complaint: 28-04-2019
Name of the force dealing with your complaint: West Midlands Police
Date of the decision letter: 20-08-2019
Reason for your appeal: I am in increased danger of an assault due to WMP's reluctance to interview my neighbour - a repeat of the threats, this time "I'll kill you", has recently been made in the High Street (7:30pm Tuesday 20th August, after much pushing earlier at 7pm), again with witnesses (numbering approximately one hundred!) and was accompanied by a form of "Liverpool Kiss" in which 164's forehead touched mine and his head lowered to touch noses (possibly also described as some sort of 'rut').

Surely you must now appreciate, Inspector, that any delay in resolving this issue is not down to yours truly?
Etc,
David Austin
mail@dwaustin.net