A FORMER senior civilian police worker is 'vindicated' in his legal challenge to force Cleveland Police to accept they made mistakes in the handling of his complaint against them.

Mike Hopkins believes that he was targeted by force chiefs when he was suspended in May 2011, amid allegations he was leaking information to the media during Operation Sacristy – a multi-million pound investigation into allegations of corruption within the force.

Three years ago he lost his civil case against the force for bullying and harassment but he vowed to continue to challenge the way the force dealt with his concerns.

Mr Hopkins was the head of commissioning for the force at the height of Operation Sacristy, a long-running investigation into allegations of corruption at the force that eventually resulted in the sacking of its Chief Constable Sean Price and his deputy Derek Bonnard.

Now he has received confirmation from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) they have upheld a complaint he made about the force getting access to his phone records at the time and failing to disclose the fact to him.

He said: "Although I feel vindicated by the investigation conducted by the IOPC , I feel Cleveland Police’s

oppressive behaviour towards me has been unrelenting and is very alarming.

"I stood up to bullying and corrupt practices and assisted a criminal investigation and Sacristy said I should have been commended.

"Instead I was subjected to witness intimidation, made compulsory redundant, subject to a covert police investigation which included interrogating my laptop and telephony records, put through a civil case whereby Cleveland Police failed to disclose key evidence, deliberately lied to on numerous occasions by senior officers and labelled a ‘vexatious complainant’.

"I ask that this course of action towards me is investigated and that the crime number that I was given for witness intimidation and perverting the course of justice is reopened forthwith."

Cleveland Police has acknowledged the IOPC's ruling and has started an investigation into Mr Hopkins's complaint. A spokesperson said: “Cleveland Police is currently looking at a complaint around disclosure of documents connected to a civil court case concerning a former member of staff. The investigation is at an early stage.”