THE former chairman of Cleveland Police Federation has branded the report into rapist former officer Wayne Scott a ‘whitewash’.

Steve Matthews believes the force has allowed officers criticised in the investigation to retire rather than face disciplinary action - a claim denied by Deputy Chief Constable Iain Spittal, who maintains that the report is open and transparent.

The force has published a 208-page report into how Scott managed to carry out a number of sexual assaults and rapes whilst a serving officer, despite concerns about him being raised less than a year into his police career.

The investigation concluded that Scott’s offending, which carried on for more than a decade, was allowed to flourish unabated as colleagues turned a blind eye to his sexually offensive behaviour and senior officers failed to address his offending after missing more than a dozen ‘red flag’ warning signs.

Mr Matthews said: “It is without doubt a complete whitewash which has been written by a senior police officer too closely involved in the investigation into Wayne Scott. It is neither balanced nor impartial but an attempt by Cleveland police to cover up their mistakes and incompetence.

“They are blinded by their obsession to protect the tainted reputation of a tarnished force rather than protect the public they serve.

“Cleveland Police cannot bring itself to admit they failed in protecting the public of Cleveland from a serial sex offender.

“Their incompetence and ineptitude failed to stop Scott years before he was finally brought to justice with no one being held to account. In fact they have allowed former Cleveland Police officers involved in an incompetent investigation, to retire rather than face discipline proceedings, a blatant move to prevent further embarrassment and damage to the force."

He added: “I said it 18 months ago and I'll say it again, the senior officers of Cleveland Police together with an inept Professional Standards Department have completely let down the victims of Wayne Scott.”

Scott was jailed for 19 years for a string of rapes and sexual assaults carried out both on and off duty.

The report highlighted that officers and staff felt unable or unwilling to report or challenge his sexual remarks and degrading behaviour at work, and turned a blind eye saying that it was ‘just Wayne being Wayne’.

The investigation recommended several lower ranked officers be sanctioned and said that two members of the Professional Standards Department (PSD) who failed to act on information about Scott had retired from the force before the report was published.

When asked whether officers were allowed to retire instead of facing disciplinary action, Mr Spittal denied that was the case.

He said: “One of the members of the PSD had retired before the investigation was launched and the other was not allowed to retire when facing any disciplinary action. In this case (the Wayne Scott investigation) nobody has retired during the investigation.

“There is a small number of officers who have been sanctioned and that has been made clear in the report.

“The investigation was carried out by experienced officers and was reviewed by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. The outcome of the report and any decisions about disciplinary action has been validated by them.”