Northern police chief to stand down after a decade

THE chief constable of Scotland's biggest police beat is to retire next year.

Ian Latimer announced yesterday he will leave Northern Constabulary next March after a decade in the post.

He joined Northern in 2001 after serving with Devon and Cornwall Constabulary and Merseyside Police.

Mr Latimer has criticised moves to form a single Scottish force, saying it would lead to rising crime in his area and a loss of officers. Since 2001, Northern has increased its strength from 650 officers to 800.

He has overseen several high-profile cases. In 2008, soldier Michael Ross was jailed for the murder of a Bangladeshi waiter in Orkney after an investigation stretching back to 1994.

But the shooting of Nairn banker Alistair Wilson in 2004 and the 1976 disappearance of Renee MacRae and son Andrew remain unsolved. Mr Latimer approved a case review in 2004, but it did not come to court.

And in 2007, he apologised for the handling of the case of Kevin McLeod, whose body was found in Wick harbour in 1997.