FORMER Cleveland chief constable Jacqui Cheer was appointed as the national lead on ethics in policing just two years after officers on her watch acted unlawfully when they monitored journalists' and officers' phones.

Mrs Cheer began her career in 1984 as a police constable for Essex Police, where she rose through the ranks before becoming assistant and then deputy chief constable for Suffolk Constabulary.

She moved to Cleveland Police in 2011 as temporary chief constable after her predecessor Sean Price was suspended after being arrested as part of an investigation into allegations of corruption under Operation Sacristy.

He was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing but sacked for misconduct.

Mrs Cheer was appointed to the role of chief constable permanently in April, 2013. In 2014 she took on the role of working on a code of police ethics.

When she retired from the force Cleveland's Police and Crime Commissioner Barry Coppinger said: "As the national lead for policing ethics, Jacqui has made a historic and lasting contribution to British policing."

As she retired, she said: "I'm confident that I'll leave a police force which has moved forward from the mistakes of the past and has communities at the heart."