QUESTIONS will not be put to Chief Constable Pat Geenty while he and two fellow officers are under investigation, as the head of the force pulled out of all media interviews at the last minute on Monday.

Asked to speak on his imminent retirement, Mr Geenty has declined to make any public comment and will not do so in the foreseeable future.

No firm reasons have yet been given for the departure of the chief constable just two years into a five-year contract and in the midst of the most drastic budget cuts ever imposed on the force, alongside an investigation into alleged mishandling of sexual abuse complaints.

Police and Crime Commissioner Angus Macpherson suggested the silence from his chief was to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation and said there was nothing suspicious about his motives in leaving the force.

He said: “It is not for me to speak on behalf of the Chief Constable but he is currently involved in an IPCC investigation and he would not want to compromise that in any way.

“I do not think people should underestimate the impact an investigation like this can have on an individual.”

Last week the IPCC wrote to Mr Macpherson saying Mr Geenty should stay in post until the end of the investigation, which launched in September, relating to an alleged cover-up of information regarding allegations made in 2008 and 2009.

It was said that in 2009, a then detective inspector and detective constable, having examined the way the force dealt with the sexual abuse allegations, withheld information from the complainants as to the extent of the force’s failings.

It is also alleged that Mr Geenty, then the assistant chief constable, withheld information and misled the complainants.

Mr Macpherson said: “He has committed to staying in post while the investigation takes place.

“Mr Geenty indicated to me that he wanted to leave by the end of May and we sought clarification from him that he would stay until the end of the investigation, which he would wish to do given his desire to prove his innocence. He will stay in post until the enquiries are finished, and we have an indication that will be by the end of May.

“If they come back and say that there is a case for Mr Geenty to answer, he will remain in post until that process has been gone through. If there is a case to answer, “I will make a decision as to whether Mr Geenty will remain in post or be suspended.”

Despite the chief constable’s silence, Mr Macpherson said he should be supported by the public until the IPCC concludes its probe.

“We need to realise Mr Geenty is in post running a successful force and he needs my support, the support of his officers, and of the general public in doing that while we move towards the end of the inquiry,” he said.

“I do not find his reasons for retirement in any way sinister in the form that I have heard them or he has expressed them to me.”