A complaint by Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Steve Turner about his treatment on a Sky News broadcast has not been upheld.

Communications regulator Ofcom considered a claim from the PCC that he had been treated unjustly or unfairly and a report broadcast on the programme ‘News Hour at Six’ in May had “inaccurately portrayed events and distorted facts” regarding his involvement in a police investigation.

Conservative Mr Turner had reported a Labour election leaflet he said contained no legible imprint or party affiliation to Redcar and Cleveland Council’s monitoring officer on suspicion it had broken election rules, who then, following protocol, referred the matter to Cleveland Police.

Officers subsequently carried out what were described as routine enquiries to establish who had created and distributed the leaflet, but following a review of the circumstances concluded that no offence had been committed.

Mr Turner said the Sky News report had used “sensational statements” implying he had directed the police operation, having subsequently stated that at no point did he ask, or attempt, to direct police to take action, either as PCC or a member of the public.

But in its ruling Ofcom found that the programme had made it sufficiently clear to viewers that Mr Turner’s position was that he did not direct the police response and that it had taken reasonable care to satisfy itself that material facts were not presented, disregarded or omitted in the programme in a way that was unfair to him.

Mr Turner said he was “disappointed” in the decision and said a situation had been created and manipulated “for political gain” by others and then reported with impunity.

The PCC and his wife Andrea were standing for local election in Longbeck ward, East Cleveland, when a leaflet was circulated suggesting that the couple fell short of the standards required of local councillors and urged them to use their vote carefully.

The leaflet was printed in Conservative colours, but distributed by Labour.

The row over the leaflet and the police action that followed prompted Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald to suggest that officers had devoted “precious time and resources to such a matter because of the person complaining”.

Sky News said that the report was based on contributions from journalistic sources, carefully researched, and Mr Turner and his wife were given a fair and reasonable opportunity to respond to the claims included in it, which were reflected fairly in the broadcast.

It also “strongly rejected” Mr Turner’s claim that the report included sensationalised language or false assertions and it was right that as a police and crime commissioner and a candidate for further public office the conduct of Mr Turner be subject to scrutiny.

It said that “by Mr Turner’s own admission he made the complaint that led to the investigation”, but the programme had also reflected his position that he did not direct the police response.

Around the same time of the complaint over the election leaflet Mr Turner made a separate complaint via Cleveland Police’s non-emergency 101 number claiming he had been harassed and attacked online by a member of the public.

This was also investigated by police with, again, no action being taken.

Mr Turner later referred himself to Cleveland’s Police and Crime Panel, which scrutinises his work, in order to be “open and transparent”.

Best read: 

Start December with Your Community at Heart!  Grab our digital subscription for just £4 for 4 months and stay connected with local happenings. Click here

The panel, which could have referred events to the Independent Office for Police Conduct for consideration, considered he had done nothing wrong and closed the matter.

It noted: “There was nothing to suggest that the PCC himself had followed anything but due process in reporting these two matters, both of which [he] was entitled to report like any other individual.”

Mr Turner’s attempt to become a councillor in Longbeck ended in failure, the PCC amassing 293 votes, while his wife also lost her seat on the council.