THE Essex Police Federation has blasted the trial of Jonathan Baldwin as a waste of tax-payers' money.

Chief Inspector Baldwin, the former Epping Forest District Commander, was cleared of three fraud charges against him yesterday after he argued discrepancies in his mileage claims were innocent mistakes brought about by the pressures of work..

Federation chairman Tony Rayner said: “This is a case that should never have been brought. Chief Inspector Baldwin was working ridiculously long hours to meet the demands of the measurement culture we have endured. Officers feel guilty about taking time to do personal admin tasks like submitting mileage claims, and they often rush as deadlines approach for submitting the paperwork.”

Essex Police issued a statement yesterday accepting the not guilty verdicts on Mr Baldwin but suggesting he could still face misconduct charges.

Mr Rayner said: “Jonathan made some simple errors and he has been hounded by Essex Police through the courts- and they now have the effrontery to say they are considering internal discipline, while excusing the prosecution by passing the buck to the CPS.

“This is a man who was headhunted by a Chief Officer to transfer from a Welsh Force to Essex. He gave this County his all and the thanks he received was this disgraceful prosecution. His health has been severely affected by the long wait for the trial, and I see no prospect of him being well enough to come back to work in the near future. I have no doubt that Essex Police will now persecute him for having the temerity to be ill.”

“Over the last several months we have seen MP after MP vilified in the media over bogus expenses claims of frequently breathtaking arrogance, and they all pompously and self-righteously whine that they have done nothing wrong when every member of the tax-paying public can see right through them.

“None of them is being prosecuted; they just get away with paying the money back. Jonathan Baldwin genuinely did nothing wrong and all this needed was for someone to point out that his mileage claims did not look right. Instead, many tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money have been wasted in bringing this case to court.”

Essex Police have confirmed Mr Baldwin is currently on sick leave.