THE officer who led the complex investigation into a fraud that cost taxpayers more than £100,000 has been commended by a judge.

Detective Constable Ian Banham’s year-long inquiry into the bogus invoice case is also expected to earn him the praise of his chief constable.

After jailing four men for their parts in the scam, Judge Peter Armstrong highlighted the work of Det Con Banham and asked for his words to be passed on to Chief Constable Jon Stoddart so he can also commend him. Det Con Banham spent more than a year tracing site foreman and managers who had worked on contracts across Teesside in 2009. He also had to work closely with numerous housing associations and developers to prove the case against Michael Skirving.

Skirving, a former department boss at Darlington Borough Council, persuaded his golfing friends to invoice the authority for work that was never carried out.

The 50-year-old, of Grange Road, Hartlepool, was the head of the council’s asbestos department at the time.

He invited Martin Dougherty, 45, of Westbrooke Avenue, Hartlepool, the boss of a roofing firm and long-time friend, to submit invoices for work on regeneration schemes.

Another friend, James Burns, 43, of Wansbeck Gardens, Hartlepool, also repeatedly billed the council for the hire of a cherry-picker, which was rarely used on the sites.

A fourth man, Graeme Storey, 38, of Hart Lane, Hartlepool, was recruited by Skirving in a pub to lie to police and tell them he was one of the workers.

After a five-week trial, he was convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice, while the others were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud.

Det Con Banham said: “Although there was not too much in the way of a paper trail or bank accounts to examine, it was a massive inquiry to conduct.”