Suspended Cleveland Chief Constable hits out

Sean Price was arrested in August along with his deputy Derek Bonnard on suspicion of misconduct in public office, fraud and corruption at Cleveland Police force.

Mr Price told me he’s the victim of a mistaken impression that he was trying to obstruct the investigation.

This week both senior officers, who say they’re completely innocent, learned their suspension on full pay would extend to April next year.

Mr Price said: “It’s outrageous. No allegations have been put to me.

“I was hoping there would no further action at this stage. If I was looking at this from the outside I’d say there must have been a reason for arresting two senior officers … no smoke without fire. But I’m sorry there’s loads of smoke here and there is no fire….and no smoking gun.”

The investigation’s codenamed Operation Sacristy is being carried out by a 22-man team of officers and staff from the neighbouring North Yorkshire force, led by a chief constable…and partly managed by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

It’s been described as a long and complex inquiry into allegations surrounding insurance claims, hospitality, and the award of police contracts from 2006- 2009.

But inquiries began back in May 2010 when a retiring senior officer in cleveland handed a file to chief constable Sean Price concerning business dealings of the then chairman of the police authority David McLuckie; Mr McLuckie has always denied any wrongdoing.

Three months later Mr Price says after initial inquiries he handed a report over to her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.

Mr Price said: “At this point we agreed an independent force should be brought in.”

An investigation team was appointed from North Yorkshire headed by Roger Baker from HMIC.

Channel 4 News understands that the inquiry obtained documents from a former Cleveland police employee without a warrant or a court order.

Mr Price claims a court order should have been obtained. He began to have concerns about the conduct of the inquiry earlier this year and they grew to the point where he had to take legal advice from a leading QC.

“She shared my concerns” he said, and “in her opinion parts of the inquiry were unlawful”.

He said documents had been seized in a contentious way: “I tried to meet with the HMIC to try to hammer this out. I believe I was seen as obstructing the inquiry and that was the reason why I was arrested back in August, which was incredibly wrong-minded and tragic.

“What I was trying to do was actually protect the inquiry, protect the police authority and protect myself because nobody wants to be part of an inquiry that is unlawfully acting.”

A spokesperson for the investigation, overseen by Warickshire’s chief constable Keith Bristow said:

“We will not comment on conversations between Mr Price and members of the investigation team and legal opinions that may have been shared. The investigation receives legal advice as does Mr Price. All major decisions relating to the investigation are carefully considered and documented. The investigation has been reviewed and will be subject to further review as it progresses. The enquiry is ongoing. “

HMIC told Channel 4 News: “We do not comment on ongoing inquiries.”