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.
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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.
A woman casually walks into a convenience store and starts filling a bread crate with goods from one of the aisles.
A shop assistant tries to stop her, but she shrugs him off, undeterred. With the crate now full of items, she leaves without paying.
It is a scenario that is played out day in and day out across Britain, as retailers warn the surge in shoplifting is now “out of control”.
Four in five store owners tell Sky News they’ve experienced shoplifting in the last week.
I’m sitting in the security office of a busy city centre shop and I’m watching as a schoolboy walks in and helps himself to a sandwich, stuffing it into his jacket.
Watching with me is shop worker Anton Mavroianu who positions himself by the main entrance waiting for the youngster to leave.
When the boy does leave, Anton demands the item back. Instead of being frozen with fear that he’s been caught, the boy laughs and walks off.
“All we can do is try to stop them,” Anton tells me. “But this is just another day for us.”
Anton Mavroianu said he has been threatened with a knife while trying to stop shoplifters
A few weeks earlier, when Anton tried to stop a shoplifter who had stolen from the store, the man pulled out a knife and tried to attack him.
This terrifying incident is an example of the very real threat posed to shop workers as they try to stem the tide of brazen thefts.
Shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales have risen to the highest level in 20 years.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) also reports that theft-related losses cost the retail sector millions each year, adding strain to an industry already grappling with post-pandemic recovery and economic uncertainty.
For small businesses, which lack the resources of larger chains, persistent theft can threaten their very survival.
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Ricky Dougall owns a chain of convenience stores and says shoplifting cost his business around £100,000 last year.
“Shoplifting is a huge problem and it is what stops us from growing the business.
“People come in and help themselves like they own the place and when you call the police, most of the time, they don’t turn up.”
Ricky Dougall said part of the problem is how shoplifting is classified during sentencing
Mr Dougall says part of the problem is how this type of crime is classified.
Sentencing guidelines for thefts of under £200, so-called “low level shoplifting”, were relaxed in 2016. That is being blamed for the surge in cases.
An exclusive Sky News and Association of Convenience Stores survey shows that 80% of shopkeepers surveyed had an incident of retail crime in the past week.
The poll also found 94% of shopkeepers say that in their experience, shoplifting has got worse over the last year, with 83% not confident that the police will take action against the perpetrators of retail crime on their premises.
Paul Cheema from the Association of Convenience Stores says retailers are looking to Government to support them.
“I would say officials do not give a s*** about us retailers,” he tells me. “The losses are too big and I don’t think we can sustain that anymore.
“I would urge Keir Starmer to come and meet us and see up close the challenges that we are facing.”
Retailers have responded by investing heavily in security measures, from advanced surveillance systems to hiring more security staff.
But these investments come at a cost, often passed down to consumers through higher prices.
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I get chatting to Matt Roberts, head of retail in the store I am in. He worries about shoplifting, but he worries about the staff more.
“I would imagine they dread coming to work because they’re always on tenterhooks wondering whether something is going to happen today, whether they are going to have to try and confront someone.
“It’s a horrible feeling. It’s out of control and we need help.”
Matt Roberts says he is concerned for his staff, who have to confront shoplifters
The government has acknowledged the urgency of the issue. Home Secretary-led discussions with retail associations and law enforcement are underway to craft a comprehensive strategy.
In the King’s Speech, the government outlined details of a Crime and Policing Bill, which promised to “introduce stronger measures to tackle low level shoplifting”, as well as introducing a separate offence for assaulting a shop worker.
Children do not feel safe, a charity has warned, as a survey finds two-thirds of teens in England and Wales have a fear of violence.
The charity, which surveyed 10,000 children aged 13-17, found that 20% of teenagers have been victims of violence in the past 12 months.
“I think what shocked me most is how this is a problem that affects all of our children,” said Jon Yates, CEO of the Youth Endowment Fund.
“We found that two-thirds of all teenage children are afraid. And that fear is pretty real for a lot of them.”
He said it’s a fear so palpable that many teenage children are changing their patterns of behaviour, or have had it influence their daily decisions.
One third of teenage children – 33% – reported avoiding areas, whilst around 27% alter their travel routes or avoid public transport altogether to stay safe.
More worryingly, however, some say the fear of violence has led to mental health challenges, with 22% reporting difficulties sleeping, reduced appetite and concentrating in school.
Weapon carrying is also a concern for the charity, especially among vulnerable groups.
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From September: Young gangs of Wolverhampton
In England and Wales, 5% of all 13-17 year olds reported carrying a weapon in the past year, but that figure jumps to 21% for those suspended from school and 36% for children who have been excluded from school.
But Mr Yates said “shockingly” only 12% of children who repeatedly commit violence get any sort of support.
“That’s madness,” he said.
Jay*, 23, from Birmingham said depending on your environment, sometimes violence is hard to avoid.
“I’ve had friends be shot, I’ve got friends who have been stabbed, I had a friend die last month to be fair,” Jay told Sky News.
He said it is “damaging” because you never really get the opportunity to “heal”. He is now being supported by the charity Project Lifeline, but says before then it was difficult to find any hope.
“If you don’t have hope,” Jay added, “you can’t really get anywhere. It’s about finding that hope.”
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Mark Rodney, CEO of Lifeline Project, mentors at-risk young children and said he has learned that “not only the perpetrator carries the knife, the victim sometimes carries the knife”.
“And not only the perpetrator does the killing,” he added. “The victim sometimes does the killing, because that’s where we’re at.”
He said far too many families ask themselves “is my child safe going to school or coming home from school?” and adds the government must “actually start addressing people’s concerns”.
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From September: Home Sec vows to halve knife crime
The report also found that in 93% of cases where teenage children repeatedly harm others, adults intervene with punishments such as school discipline or police involvement.
However, only 12% of these children are offered support aimed at addressing the root causes of violence and preventing further harm.
Mr Yates said: “They go to school, they do something violent. They get excluded.”
He added: “We need to be much better at saying, ‘we’re not going to lose that child. We’re going to keep providing support to them. We’re going to keep providing a mentor’.
“Instead, we let them fall through the cracks”.
A government spokesperson said: “Halving knife crime in a decade is a clear mission this government has set out.
“It is vital to protect vulnerable young people who are too often the victims or perpetrators of this crime.”
*names have been changed
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