AN MP has slammed Cleveland Police for its handling of a criminal probe which led to a solicitor winning £550,000 damages, and failing to hold a senior officer to account.

The force must "take all necessary steps" to ensure the public has confidence in the integrity of criminal investigations, said Andy McDonald, MP for Middlesbrough.

BBC’s Newsnight programme on Friday revealed James Watson, senior partner at Watson Woodhouse solicitors in Middlesbrough was arrested for perverting the course of justice and detained in a police station for 29 hours in June 2009 but never charged and no evidence was found against him.

“The Newsnight report on the damages settlement Cleveland Police achieved with local solicitor James Watson made for extremely uncomfortable viewing,” said Mr McDonald.

“Not only did it reveal behaviours and practices within the force that fell far short of the standards that the public rightly expect of officers, but Mr Watson made it clear that the false allegations made against him were symptomatic of the criminal investigation culture in Cleveland Police dating back over a number of years.”

The £550,000 payout, following a four-year legal battle, includes £80,000 in exemplary damages, the maximum amount.

Following an investigation by West Yorkshire Police the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) recommended the officer in charge of Mr Watson’s case, Chief Inspector Anthony Riordan, be suspended, however he was allowed to retire on a full pension.

Mr McDonald added: “Thankfully the key officers involved are no longer serving and whilst serious questions remain about how the lead officer Chief Inspector Riordan was seemingly not held to account for his actions but simply allowed to retire, it is now falls to the newly appointed Chief Constable, Jacqui Cheer, and the recently elected Police and Crime Commissioner, Barry Coppinger, to take all necessary steps to ensure that the public can have confidence in the integrity of criminal investigations conducted by Cleveland Police officers."

Matthew Sinclair, Chief Executive of TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "It's deeply worrying that the police have made such a costly and grievous mistake. It's shocking that this has resulted in the loss of liberty for the people involved and massive sums of taxpayers' cash being paid out.

“The fact that the senior officer involved in this case was allowed to retire without facing questions over his actions will also be of serious concern to local residents."

Mr Riordan said in a statement: “I strongly refute any allegation I acted with anything other than professionalism and integrity in connection with the arrest of Mr Watson. I have made a formal complaint about the conduct of the investigation carried out by West Yorkshire Police on behalf of the IPCC.”

Barry Coppinger, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland Police, was unavailable for comment depite repeated attempts to contact him.