Top officer charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act Assistant chief constable suspended after sensitive documents were stolen from car
THE former head of the region’s counter-terror unit has been suspended and is to appear in court accused of breaching the Official Secrets Act.
Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale has been summonsed for allegedly failing to safeguard sensitive documents stolen from his unmarked police car.
Mr Beale was removed from his role as head of West Midlands Police’s Counter Terrorism Unit after top-secret documents were taken from the vehicle on May 15.
He is now set to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on December 7 after the Metropolitan Police investigated the theft.
Mr Beale joined West Midlands Police in 2011 and held its security portfolio, with responsibility for the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit and local policing in Birmingham at the time that the documents were stolen.
A spokesman for West Midlands Police confirmed he has been suspended following the summons.
The force launched an urgent investigation after confidential and highly classified documents were stolen from a car allegedly used by Mr Beale, then head of counter terrorism. The unmarked police vehicle was targeted by thieves on May 15, who were said to have taken a locked box containing the secret papers.
After the theft the officer was allowed to remain in his counter terrorism role and the force did not make the theft public.
The news came as the country remained on high terror alert after recent atrocities, including the Manchester Arena bombing and two London attacks. But in June Mr Beale was moved to a new role on the same day the story was revealed.
He remained an Assistant Chief Constable and on June 15 took up a new position overseeing motorways policing, health and safety and the force’s response control room.
West Midlands Police has not at any stage confirmed the location of the theft.
Scotland Yard’s Specialist Operations Directorate, which has national responsibilities in relation to offences under the Official Secrets Act, carried out the investigation into Mr Beale.
The Metropolitan Police said that the documents were of a “sensitive nature” and measures had been taken to “mitigate any potential risk to security or harm”.
A former senior officer in Staffordshire, Mr Beale joined the West Midlands force in June 2011 as an experienced Assistant Chief Constable, having served at that rank for the previous four years with Staffordshire Police.