Northamptonshire chief constable fined £50,000 for contempt of court

Judges spare Ivan Balhatchet a prison sentence, after an earlier ruling that the force had ignored repeated orders to turn over video footage of an arrest

The chief constable of Northamptonshire police has been fined 50,000 for contempt of court, with his force condemned by three senior judges.

The court of appeal ruled last week that Northamptonshire police were in contempt and had been wilfully disobedient" for repeatedly failing to obey rulings to hand over video to a woman who complained she had been wrongly arrested by three officers.