Senior officer faces court over loss of secret documents

A former counter-terror chief has been summonsed to court after top-secret documents were stolen from a police car. Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale has been accused of committing an offence under the Official Secrets Act when he allegedly failed to safeguard sensitive information belonging to West Midlands Police. A locked box containing the papers was among a number of items taken from Mr Beale’s unmarked vehicle in May. Mr Beale, who was the head of the force’s counter-terrorism unit, has now been suspended and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court at 10am on December 7. The summons follows an investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), which was asked to independently investigate the incident. The theft from the vehicle is being investigated locally.