UK Police Chief cleared in smashed phone case

A UK Chief Constable has been cleared in a case that reveals as much about his golfing character as his integrity.

Mike Veale, now Chief Constable for Cleveland police, claimed that his phone, which contained contacts relating to a child abuse investigation into former PM Sir Edward Heath, was smashed when he dropped it in a golf club carpark.

Veale was chief constable of Wiltshire at the time of the incident, but an internal investigation has found that his account of the incident to be untrue.

What really happened was a fit of rage on a golf course.

"Out of character for me, I hit my golf club into my golf bag after a particularly poor shot and inadvertently damaged the mobile phone," Veale said in a statement.

"It was to avoid more unnecessary media attention and to spare my own obvious embarrassment for damaging my phone in such a ridiculous way, and most importantly to ensure my colleagues were not aware of the pressure I was feeling at a time when I needed to be strong."

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