Ex-Cheshire East Council leader fraud probe 'was vindictive'

Michael Jones led Cheshire East Council until 2015

A former council leader has said a "vindictive" fraud probe he faced was a "politically motivated attack" by his opponents in "collusion" with police.

Officers began looking into how Cheshire East Council awarded contracts in 2015, when Michael Jones was leader, but the case was dropped last week due to "insufficient evidence".

Mr Jones said the "significant" damage to his reputation had been "unfair".

Cheshire Police said prosecutors had found no fault with the investigation.

The police inquiry looked into the awarding of three council contracts for school fitness classes in 2015 to the company Core Fit, which was run by Mr Jones' personal physiotherapist Amanda Weston.

Other companies were unable to bid for the contracts, but at the time, the council said no "unlawful expenditure" had been made.

Michael Jones quit as leader before police launched their investigation in December 2015, and subsequently left the Conservative group and quit as a councillor.

The case against Mr Jones and Ms Weston was dropped after being considered by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Cheshire Police said at the time that although prosecutors advised the force that "there were issues in relation to procurement, there was insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of a conviction against any individual".

'Very complimentary'

In a statement, Mr Jones accused senior officers of "dragging their heels" and labelled their investigation "a politically-motivated attack by opponents on Cheshire East Council in collusion and with senior officers at Cheshire Police".

"It saddens me greatly that so much time and money has been wasted on this spurious investigation by Cheshire Police and it is no surprise that the CPS has agreed that neither I or Amanda Weston at Corefit have a case to answer."

A further five allegations referred to police remain under investigation.

Mr Jones said he had written to the Independent Office for Police Conduct and Cheshire's police and crime commissioner calling for an "urgent inquiry", as he was "greatly concerned that others... are at risk of a similarly vindictive investigation".

Ms Weston said she was "relieved at the CPS decision" and "hopeful" that her firm would now be judged "purely on its performance".

In response, a Cheshire Police spokesman said it was the force's duty "to properly investigate serious allegations of fraud and misconduct in a public office".

He said it had been "an extremely thorough investigation concerning some complex allegations" which had taken "a great deal of time to conduct".

"A file of evidence was provided to the CPS in May 2018, and since then there have been continued discussions between the police and CPS on various points of the investigation.

"We are not aware of a formal complaint being submitted by the CPS about our handling of the case - in fact... the CPS was very complimentary of the investigation."