POLICE officials have been ordered to apologise to a member of the public after a botched investigation into the actions of the chief constable and his former deputy.

Chief Constable Phil Gormley, who is currently being probed for alleged gross misconduct, and former number two, Neil Richardson, both faced claims of negligence after a complaint from the man in 2015.

The complainant wrote to Mr Richardson raising concerns about officers in the Professional Standards Department (PSD).

It was passed to a superintendent in charge of the department at the centre of the claims. When the complainant found out, he further complained to Mr Gormley.

However, an inspector in the chief constable’s secretariat wrote back saying the complaint had been passed to Mr Richardson, despite his involvement in the original matter.

Yet it was still dismissed by force oversight body, the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), in 2016.

The Police Investigations & Review Commissioner (Pirc) has now ruled the claims were not handled reasonably, ordered the SPA to do a review and send a letter of apology.

Pirc’s review found the SPA did not adhere to protocol when handling the complaint about Mr Richardson and did not give a reason why it decided the allegation would not, if proved, amount to misconduct.

It failed to explain what inquiries were carried out, what facts were established, or how they led to the complaint not being upheld.

Pirc said it was unacceptable for a letter of complaint about an officer to be passed to that same individual.

Andrew Barker, general secretary of the Scottish Chief Police Officers Staff Association, said it had raised “concerns with the SPA on a number of occasions” about the way complaints were handled.

The SPA said it would learn from the incident. Mr Richardson, involved in a row over police spying on journalists’ sources, retired last year.

It emerged last month Mr Gormley was being probed by Pirc over claims he shouted at a senior colleague.