originally by: Daily Mail
published: 21 December 2013
Police chiefs have been accused of a cover-up as one of Britain’s most senior officers prepares to retire while secretly being investigated over an alleged conflict of interest.
Ian Learmonth, chief constable of Kent, was reported to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) in July over a review of the police inquiry into the death of Lee Balkwell, who was found dead in a cement mixer lorry in 2002.
Mr Learmonth faces criticism for letting his officers in Kent investigate how Essex Police handled the case because he himself was working for the Essex force at the time of the original inquiry.
Neither Kent Police nor the force’s elected crime tsar, Ann Barnes, who referred the case to the IPCC, have made the complaint – by Mr Balkwell’s father, Les – public.
Mr Learmonth announced he was retiring in October and will step down on January 3, before the probe begins.
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