Cleveland police boss Steve Turner faces probe over sexual assault allegation

Cleveland Police's Tory Police and Crime Commissioner Steve Turner has been under growing pressure to resign following an allegation made in Parliament that he received a caution for theft while working at a supermarket.

However, a second allegation believed to relate to a sexual assault decades ago has been submitted to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

There has been calls for the PCC to stand down and there was specualtion he was planning to resign last night at a specially convened meeting but speaking to The Northern Echo he categorically denied he intended to quit.

The investigation in Mr Turner will be carried out by an external police force and overseen by the police watchdog.

An IOPC spokesperson said: “Any allegation that a criminal offence may have been committed by a Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) must be referred by the appropriate authority to the IOPC to determine whether the matter should be investigated.

“We have now begun a managed investigation following a complaint referral from the Cleveland Police and Crime Panel regarding the alleged conduct of the current PCC prior to taking up the role.

“This investigation, which follows an allegation of a serious non-recent criminal offence, will be carried out by a force from another area under our direction and control.

“We have contacted the complainant to make them aware of our involvement. As this investigation is at a very early stage, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”

In September Middlesbrough's Labour MP Andy McDonald used Parliamentary privilege to accuse a police boss of theft in his previous job.

The Conservative PCC is alleged to have been sacked after the "systematic theft" of goods from Safeway supermarket, where he worked in the early 2000s.

Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald

Mr Turner initially denied the allegations but later accepted that they were true.

The PCC published an open letter to give his side of the story after pressure mounted for him to stand down from the role he won in May's elections.

Mr Turner was elected in a landslide vote in May promising to crackdown on crime with a hardline on petty offences and drugs.

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