Cleared officer could face ‘months home alone’ as internal inquiry reviews conduct

A decorated police officer acquitted of shoplifting has reportedly been suspended until next year while an internal inquiry takes place.

Sergeant Richard Pendlebury, 42, was cleared of stealing women’s clothes and a sandwich worth £24 from Asda in Bury in 2014 after a trial in June.

The jury at Preston Crown Court accepted it was a “misunderstanding” with a security guard when his partner became ill during the shopping trip.

The officer, who was suspended in January, has now been told an investigation by Greater Manchester Police’s Professional Standards Department (PSD) will not conclude until “at least” 2017.

But Sgt Pendlebury, commended for extreme bravery in 2005 for chasing a suspect who stabbed him, remains at home where he is looking after his children alone.

His partner Zoe Wilkinson, 30, was jailed for a year for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice after she admitted hatching a plot to make a false statement over the same incident.

Meanwhile three colleagues, including a chief superintendant, who were accused of plotting to get the investigation into Sgt Pendlebury dropped, have learned they will no longer face a ‘gross misconduct’ hearing.

Sgt Pendlebury’s father Paul, 65, a former lieutenant colonel in the Army, criticised the ongoing investigation into his son as “a disgrace”.

He told the Manchester Evening News “He was cleared in court and the allegations he is facing now are the same. He was found not guilty.

“Why is this being raised again? They want to get him to vindicate their completely disproportionate investigation.

“If it was anyone other than a police officer, all they would have got was a slapped wrist.

“He is my son and if he had done it, I would have walked him to the police station myself. He is genuine. He has loved the police from the age of eight. All he wanted was to be was a police officer. This has just destroyed him.”

He admitted the family had been shocked by the jailing of Ms Wilkinson. “She was naive and silly, trying to protect Richard,” he said.

A spokesperson for GMP said “it would be inappropriate to comment” as the case was still “being assessed” by the force’s PSD.