'I WAS on the police authority, but WASN'T at the meeting when chief constable's bonuses were agreed', commissioner insists

Cleveland's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has denied involvement in the “mistake” to pay Sean Price bonuses of £450,000 - which his office then tried to claw back.

Labour's Barry Coppinger was a member of the police authority when it approved the bonus and salary payments for Mr Price at the time he was chief constable.

But Mr Coppinger, a former deputy chair of the authority, was not present at the meeting when the decision was made, his spokesman told The Gazette today.

It has emerged the case to try and have the bonuses repaid has cost the cash-strapped force around £43,000 of taxpayers' money in barristers’ and in-house solicitors’ fees.

The authority made the payments “by mistake of law” and decided to try to reclaim the cash, plus interest, from Mr Price.

But as reported, the case was abandoned yesterday and a compromise settlement of just £23,000 was accepted.

Mr Coppinger declined to speak to the Gazette directly but a spokesman confirmed he was a member of the police authority at the time when Mr Price received the bonuses.

The PCC "inherited" the decision to lodge the legal case against Mr Price when elected in 2012, his spokesman added.

In a statement, Mr Coppinger said after taking office, he “considered all of the circumstances and legal advice” and determined that “if the action were to continue it be on the following basis:

* That it be brought by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and not him personally,

* That costs would be managed and controlled as appropriate, and

* The action could be halted at any time he deemed appropriate.

He said the decision to discontinue the case was made after taking into account the chances of winning.

“I also considered the potential six figure cost implications to the force if we were to go to court and lose or go to court and win but be unable to recover our costs,” he said.

Father-of-two Mr Price was arrested in August 2011 and sacked in October 2012 - the first police chief to be fired in 35 years - after a disciplinary hearing found he had lied about the role he played in the recruitment of former police authority chairman Dave McLuckie’s daughter.

Mr Price denied any wrongdoing.

He had branded the decision to take him to court “vindictive”, claiming he had no way to pay back the cash even if the force proved that the bonuses should never had been received.