Police chief calls IPCC report to be released after settling a £550,000 damages case with leading solicitor

Barry Coppinger, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland, has reassured residents that all recommendations in the report have to be implemented to avoid a reoccurrence of the mistakes made in wake of the arrest of James Watson.

The senior partner at Watson Woodhouse in Middlesbrough was arrested in 2009 on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert justice.

Held by Cleveland Police for 29 hours, Mr Watson's home was searched and his wife and children were unable to leave the property.

Searches were also carried out at his offices in Middlesbrough and documents removed. There was no evidence found against him and he was never charged as a result of his arrest.

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.

Today (Monday) Mr Coppinger vowed that lessons had been learned from the mistakes in the investigation.

He said: “I have written to the IPCC and asked for the report to be published as soon as possible so that we can give full context and details of the investigation to the people of Cleveland. It is there report and it is confidential at the moment and we need their permission before releasing it.

“The important thing is we recognise there has been failings and as a result we have developed a number of processes and procedures and they have already been implemented by the new Chief Constable Jacqui Cheer.”

Mr Coppinger said he held a weekly meeting with Mrs Cheer so that he can be kept up to date with major investigations and have an oversight into the work of the force to ensure there would not be a repeat of the wrongful arrest of Mr Watson.

And he reassured taxpayers that the cost of the £550,000 damages and legal fees were covered by the force’s insurance.