Ray Mallon

As those days have passed, more and more questions have arisen about Operation Lancet. Why was it taking so long? How much would it eventually cost taxpayers? How would it affect police morale? How would it influence crime figures? What were the implications for police forces throughout the country? The Northern Echo has repeatedly posed those and other questions.

Ray Mallon went from being the "Zero Tolerance supercop" to a pariah of the police - a man facing the most damaging of allegations for a law-enforcer.

In the months leading up to his suspension he was convinced his enemies within the police were out to bring him down. Millions of pounds of public money were spent - even now there are conflicting accounts of how much.

And yet we were expected to accept the fact that the man who suspended Det Supt Mallon, Assistant Chief Constable Robert Turnbull, should leave the force with a £180,000 golden handshake, a £50,000-a-year pension, and a plum job as deputy commissioner of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

We have never argued that the alleged corruption and malpractice within Cleveland Police should not be investigated thoroughly. It simply went on too long and was exacerbated by the way high-ranking officers investigating the allegations ended up being investigated themselves.

In what other profession would someone be left in limbo for three years, with such smears against their name? Even now it is not over. Det Supt Mallon still faces the possibility of police disciplinary charges. Whatever the outcome, it has to be sorted quickly so Ray Mallon can get on with his life - either inside or outside of the police.