THE allegation of sexual abuse against the former police authority chairman and Redcar and Cleveland Borough councillor originally came to light in 2006.

Dave McLuckie strongly denies the allegation and maintains that he co-operated fully with the investigation at the time.

A union official at Redcar and Cleveland Council was told about the victim’s claim and alerted superiors who then contacted the then chief constable of Cleveland Police, Sean Price.

In December 2014, a high level inquiry involving senior officers from Cleveland Police and Simon Dennis, the chief of staff in the office of Police and Crime Commissioner, Barry Coppinger, was held to look at how the original complaint was handled by police in 2006.

It found that a meeting had been called in September 2006, which was attended by the local authority’s legal officer, Cleveland Police’s head of legal services Caroline Llewellyn and Mr McLuckie.

As a result of the meeting, according to the confidential report from the senior police officers, a letter from Mrs Llewellyn was sent to the local authority which ‘was defensive’ of Mr McLuckie and attempted to discredit the alleged victim.

However, when asked by The Northern Echo, Mr McLuckie said he had no knowledge of the correspondence.

A brief to counsel was commissioned by the local authority outlining the allegation and safeguarding decisions made by it and, according to the report, the decision was taken not to convene a multi-agency approach but instead to deal with safeguarding by way of a risk assessment conducted by the NSPCC.

The report says: “A NSPCC representative met with DM (Dave McLuckie) but he refused to take part in the risk assessment. This brief also indicates the DM told CC Price of the allegation.”

But Mr McLuckie rejected the claim that he had refused to co-operate with the NSPCC at the time of the original allegation. He said: “I fully co-operated with both Redcar and Cleveland Council and the NSPCC.”

The report goes on to say: “The local authority appear to have failed to initiate the correct safeguarding due to fear of DM’s position as a local councillor, the Chair of the Police Authority and a school governor.”

A Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council spokeswoman said the authority followed the correct safeguarding procedures.

She said: “The Council will not comment on individual cases due to the need for confidentiality. Safeguarding is of paramount importance and any allegation of abuse is thoroughly investigated by professionally qualified staff in conjunction with other relevant agencies.

“This multi-agency approach ensures that all appropriate support is provided to victims throughout the process and that allegations are handled sensitively and effectively. There are robust safeguarding procedures in place in Redcar and Cleveland, which are overseen by the Local Safeguarding Children Board and reviewed regularly in line with best practice and national guidance.”