Case against Lowestoft special constable is dropped by prosecutors

As well as being a volunteer police officer, Robert Beare, of Morton Road, Pakefield, is the operations manager for Lowestoft's Haven Marina.

The 49-year-old was accused of telling people at the marina about a man who had handed himself in following the theft of a £17,500 cruiser on April 29 last year.

Ipswich Crown Court discontinued the case earlier this week.

After the Crown Prosecution Service withdrew the charge Mr Beare said: 'I'm obviously very pleased and justice has been done.

'As far as I'm concerned it is all over and done with and it will be the end of the matter.'

Speaking about his ordeal since he was suspended from Suffolk Constabulary in January this year, Mr Beare said: 'It's not been nice. I don't think anyone who has had an incident like that hanging over them wants to go through it.

'It hasn't been good but I can move forward now.'

Mr Beare has not ruled out resuming his duties as a special constable.

He said: 'We will see how the land lies and discuss that later.'

A Crown Prosecution spokesman said: 'We were satisfied on the evidence provided to us at the time that this was a case where the matter should go before a court.

'We reviewed the case according to the code for Crown Prosecutors and we were satisfied there was sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it was in the public interest to prosecute.

'We have a duty to keep cases under continuous review and before the first hearing at Ipswich Crown Court on March 22, the case was reviewed again. Following this further review it was decided there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction and we should not continue with the prosecution.

'We notified all parties of our intention to discontinue the case at the earliest opportunity and before the next hearing in Ipswich Crown Court.

'We will be looking at the handling of this case to see if there are any lessons to be learned.'