Police response to mayor death threat 'proportionate'

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen previously said police needed to be "firmer" about abuse suffered by politicians

A police force has said its response to death threats received by the Tees Valley mayor was "appropriate and proportionate".

Ben Houchen previously told BBC Politics North that police needed to be "firmer" in their response to politician abuse, saying someone had once threatened to "cut" him up with a chainsaw and that police had done nothing about it.

Cleveland Police said it had been in touch with Mr Houchen about his previously reported threats, and said that both the force and "the individual concerned" had concluded the responses were "appropriate and proportionate".

Mr Houchen has been approached for comment.

When speaking about the abuse suffered by politicians, Conservative mayor Mr Houchen detailed death threats he had received.

"I've had people threatening to cut me up with a chainsaw," he said, adding: "I've had Special Branch knock on my door late at night because of a credible threat against my personal safety."

Mr Houchen went on to state police needed to be "firmer".

"When I was getting death threats - police haven't done anything about it. Nobody’s been arrested."

Response

Cleveland Police said it had been in contact with Mr Houchen, and had shared details of incidents where it had recorded and responded to allegations about the mayor’s concerns for his safety.

A spokesperson said: "The response to each of these incidents was considered appropriate and proportionate from a policing point of view and also from the perspective of the individual concerned."

The force added that Counter Terrorism officers had not been sent out to Mr Houchen's address in response to a threat.

"In 2019 officers from the then 'Special Branch', now Counter Terrorism Policing North East, carried out mandatory introductory visits to elected officials to explain their role, however, we have no record of any deployment in response to a threat in the Cleveland Police force area."

The spokesperson added that threats directed at politicians were "completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated".

"We can reassure the mayor and other elected officials that we will do everything possible to identify and deal with offenders."