Tory crime commissioner triggered two police investigations into political opponents during local elections bid
A well-connected Tory police and crime commissioner triggered two different police investigations into political opponents in recent weeks, Sky News can reveal.
Steve Turner, PCC for Cleveland, was attempting to become a Tory councillor in Redcar in the Tees Valley, in addition to his existing £73,300 role overseeing the area’s police service.
During the campaign, Mr Turner twice alleged crimes were committed and triggered investigations by his local force.
One complaint was about a Labour election leaflet in Tory blue colours – which he thought might break electoral rules – which he referred to Redcar council who forwarded it automatically to the police. The other complaint was about alleged harassment, which he alerted police to via the 101 hotline.
Keir Starmer defends Sue Gray after latest revelation – politics latest
Mr Turner’s complaint about the Labour election leaflet led to an inquiry which lasted almost a week. It involved fraud officers making three home visits to see three different activists, where they were “interrogated” over the contents of their election literature.
Sky News has been told by one of those interviewed that the plain clothes policeman said they were investigating because an election leaflet had “upset Steve”. They added the police officers they were talking to “seemed a bit embarrassed to be dealing with it and said they’re normally fraud officers but were working the election”.
At the end of both investigations, police concluded there was no offence committed.
Mr Turner told Sky News he acted to address the “bile and abuse aimed at me and my wife simply for standing as candidates” in the recent local elections, and that “at no point did I ask or attempt to direct Cleveland Police to take action against the candidate, either as a member of the public or as PCC.”
His wife, Andrea Turner, insisted his actions were appropriate, saying: “My husband was a candidate in this race and he had every right the same as any other member of the public to report offences to the public.”
‘Abuse of power’
Nazir Afzal, former prosecutor and former chief executive of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, said Mr Turner appeared to have received special treatment by police.
“The perception is that he abused his power in this case,” he said.
“Nobody else would have got the level of attention that the police gave him and this allegation… and that clearly demonstrates that he had the power to make it happen. Whereas you and I would not have been able to do that.”
Cleveland Police will also face questions about the scale of the effort put into the investigations, at a time when resources are stretched and they are one of the worst performing forces in the country.
After the third and final home visit to Labour activists over the leaflet complaint, Cleveland Police telephoned Mr Turner to update him about their probe into his complaint – a level of engagement which Labour officials say is rare when they raise similar issues elsewhere.
In a statement, Cleveland Police said the force “received a complaint from local election candidates in Redcar and Cleveland regarding information relating to them, in a leaflet distributed to homes in Redcar”.
It added: “Routine enquiries were made to establish who had created and distributed the leaflet, and following a review of the circumstances it was concluded that no offence had been committed.”
Mr Turner said he was updated personally about both cases by the police but said he did not know the police had made home visits to his Labour opponents until he was contacted by Sky News.
After receiving the call about the election leaflet investigation, Mr Turner wrote on social media that the police had “confirmed” Labour leaflets contained “lies”.
On his “Steve4PCC” Facebook page, he wrote “it’s been confirmed by the police today last week’s Labour attack leaflet, that was made to look like Conservative campaign material and was intended to deceive voters, contained lies”.
The code of conduct for police and crime commissioners says they must “not use the resources of the elected local policing body improperly for political purposes (including party political purposes)”.
Mr Turner is a significant figure in North East politics. He works alongside Ben Houchen, the most prominent Tory mayor in Britain. He has been defended by Boris Johnson in broadcast interviews, worked in the office of ex-cabinet minister Simon Clarke and sits on the board of the Middlesbrough Development Corporation.
Benn Houchen is the Tory mayor for Tees Valley
The officer ultimately accountable for the Labour activist probe, chief constable of Cleveland Police Mark Webster, also sits alongside Mr Turner on the Middlesbrough Development Corporation – which “funds, manages, and accelerates regeneration” in that part of the North East. He is listed as an “Associate Member”.
Referring to the complaint connected to the election leaflet, Mr Turner said in a statement: “Until your note today I had no idea any of those individuals had been visited by the police and my complaint about the leaflet was before I knew it was a Labour Party product.
“This initial complaint went into the monitoring officer as I believed it was election material without an imprint. The monitoring officer referred it to the Police election SPOC (‘special point of contact’ for elections) as per protocol.”
“My contact with Cleveland Police’s SPOC came when he contacted me to confirm there was an imprint but it was only 1mm high and that it was promoted by the Labour Party. As 1mm high is a 3pt font it is considered illegible on a printed product and therefore was clearly not meant to be identified which is misleading to the public.
“At no point did I ask or attempt to direct Cleveland Police to take action against the candidate, either as a member of the public or as PCC.”
In connection to the alleged harassment complaint, Mr Turner told Sky News: “My call to the police via 101 was regarding a completely separate individual and a threat he’d made against me via what’s app messages. The police dealt with this 101 call as they would any other and I received updates about the threats and that individual.”
Mr Turner is a controversial figure as police and crime commissioner after confirming in a BBC interview that he received a police caution for handling stolen goods. He says it was 22 years ago and the value was just £15.
This is the highest stakes diplomacy via social media.
The American president just posted on his Truth Social platform: “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding.
“He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers.
“Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Israel-Iran live: Trump says US knows where Iran’s supreme leader is ‘hiding’
It was followed minutes later by “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
In real-time, we are witnessing Donald Trump’s extreme version of maximum pressure diplomacy.
He’d probably call it the ‘art of the deal’, but bunker busters are the tool, and it comes with such huge consequences, intended and unintended, known and unknown.
Read more:
The bunker buster bomb which could destroy Iran’s nuclear ambitions
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Nuclear sites targeted in Iran
There is intentional ambiguity in the president’s messaging. His assumption is that he can apply his ‘art of the deal’ strategy to a deeply ideological geopolitical challenge.
It’s all playing out publicly. Overnight, the New York Times, via two of its best-sourced reporters, had been told that Mr Trump is weighing whether to use B-2 aircraft to drop bunker-busting bombs on Iran’s underground nuclear facilities.
Meanwhile, Axios was reporting that a meeting is possible between Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi.
The reporting came just as Mr Trump warned “everyone in Tehran to evacuate”. The nuclear sites being threatened with bunker busters are not in Tehran, but Trump’s words are designed to stoke tension, to confuse and to apply intense pressure.
His actions are too. He left the G7 in Canada early and asked his teams to gather in the White House Situation Room.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Trump: ‘I want an end, not a ceasefire’
This is a game of smoke, mirrors, brinkmanship and – maybe – bluff. In Tehran, what’s left of the leadership is watching and reading closely as they consider what’s next.
Maybe the Supreme Leader and his regime’s days are numbered. Things remain very unpredictable.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
From history, though, regime change, even when it comes with a plan – and there is certainly not one here, spells civil war and from that comes a refugee crisis.
These are truly tense and chaotic times.
World
Ukraine war: 14 killed as Russian missile and drone attacks strike Kyiv – including American citizen
Russian missile and drone attacks have killed 14 people in Kyiv overnight, according to Ukrainian officials.
A 62-year-old US citizen who suffered shrapnel wounds is among the dead.
At least 99 others were wounded in strikes that hollowed out a residential building and destroyed dozens of apartments.
Pic: AP
Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble.
Images show a firefighter was among those hurt, with injured residents evacuated from their homes.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “one of the most terrifying attacks on Kyiv” – and said Russian forces had fired 440 drones and 32 missiles as civilians slept in their homes.
“[Putin] wants the war to go on,” he said. “It is troubling when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to it.”
Pic: AP
Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said 27 locations across the capital have been hit – including educational institutions and critical infrastructure.
He claimed the attack, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, was one of the largest on the capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Drones swarmed over the city, with an air raid alert remaining in force for seven hours.
One person was killed and 17 others injured as a result of separate Russian drone strikes in the port city of Odesa.
Pic: Reuters
It comes as the G7 summit in Canada continues, which Ukraine’s leader is expected to attend.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold talks with Donald Trump – but the president has announced he is unexpectedly returning to Washington because of tensions in the Middle East.
Ukraine’s foreign minister says Moscow’s decision to attack Kyiv during the summit is a signal of disrespect to the US.
Moscow has launched a record number of drones and missiles in recent weeks, and says the attacks are in retaliation for a Ukrainian operation that targeted warplanes in airbases deep within Russian territory.
Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko says fires broke out in two of the city’s districts as a result of debris from drones shot down by the nation’s air defences.
Read more from Sky News:
New episodes of The Wargame podcast released
US-UK trade deal is ‘done’, Donald Trump says
Pic: AP
On X, Ukraine’s foreign ministry wrote: “Russia’s campaign of terror against civilians continues. Its war against Ukraine escalates with increased brutality.
“The only way to stop Russia is tighter pressure – through sanctions, more defence support for Ukraine, and limiting Russia’s ability to keep sowing war.”
Olena Lapyshnak, who lived in one of the destroyed buildings, said: “It’s horrible, it’s scary, in one moment there is no life. I can only curse the Russians, that’s all I can say. They shouldn’t exist in this world.”
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike