Inquiry continues as officer cleared

One of Scotland’s top police officers has been cleared of misconduct allegations but faces a further wait to find out if he will be subject to criminal proceedings.

Assistant Chief Constable Bernard Higgins, who denies all allegations against him, returned to work in March while the watchdog investigations were still ongoing.

He had been suspended from duty by the Scottish Police Authority in November after a number of allegations were made.

Now the SPA has confirmed that the decision there was no case to answer was made following a committee meeting last month.

A spokeswoman said: “The committee determined that the senior officer had no case to answer in respect of either misconduct or gross misconduct and will take no further action in respect of these allegations.”