Crime Commissioner’s report into Chief Constable “flawed”

The investigation into Cheshire’s Chief Constable Simon Byrne at a cost to taxpayers of £450,000 – has been deemed “flawed” and based on “flimsy” allegations.

Chief constable Simon Byrne was suspended from his job for over twelve months but was completely cleared by the investigation last year and has since taken the top policing job in Northern Ireland.

Cheshire’s police commissioner David Keane was blamed in the report for “failures in the investigation and a lack of rigour”. The report added that the investigation “could and should have been avoided”.

The report, produced by councillors on Cheshire’s police and crime panel, said Mr Keane was “still finding his feet” as a newly-elected commissioner when the allegations first emerged in 2016.

The commissioner had “incomplete knowledge” of the relevant rules and laws, his investigation was “under-resourced” and it had “insufficient attention to detail”.

Mr Keane claimed that “sub optimal” work by the investigators he appointed led to mistakes being made.

The report, to be sent to the Home Office, also called for the government to change the “overly complicated, bureaucratic and unbalanced” regulations that govern disciplinary procedures.