UNDER-FIRE Cleveland Police has suffered a further blow with the news that a senior officer has been charged with a string of criminal offences.

Inspector Neil O'Byrne will appear before Teesside Magistrates on Monday charged with two offences of theft, two of forgery and one breach of the data protection act.

Insp O'Byrne, who was for a time staff officer to Chief Constable Barry Shaw, is accused of stealing a police computer valued at £3,000 from force headquarters.

He has also been charged with the theft of a £400 music system, which had been recovered after a burglary.

Insp O'Byrne, 40, a divorced father-of-three who lives in Guisborough, joined the Metropolitan Police in 1979 before moving to Cleveland in 1987. He served at Guisborough before being promoted to sergeant and moving to headquarters.

While staff officer, he was promoted to inspector and later transferred to Middlesbrough. He was suspended more than a year ago.

A spokesman for Cleveland Police said: " Following a protracted crime inquiry conducted by Cleveland Police Professional Standards Department, an inspector serving in the Middlesbrough District has been charged with two offences of theft and two of forgery of police documents. He also faces a charge relating to the data protection act. The officer is currently suspended."

In a separate development, another Cleveland officer who will appear before the courts next week has resigned from the force.

Detective Constable Steve Pennington is due to be sentenced after admitting a drink-driving charge when he appeared before magistrates last month.

The court heard police stopped his car when he was seen driving erratically after leaving a pub car park at 1.45am.