Body of senior police officer found on railway line near Moreton-in-Marsh (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Senior police officer due in court on Monday found dead on railway line near Moreton-in-Marsh

8:13am Saturday 20th October 2012 in News

THE body of a senior police officer who was due in court on Monday to face a charge of perverting the course of justice has been found on a railway line near Moreton-in-Marsh.

Police were called after reports of a body on the line at Aston Magna, near Moreton, at 12.20pm yesterday. Great Western Ambulance crews also attended.

The body has been identified as that of Assistant Chief Constable Gordon Fraser, from Leicestershire Police.

Mr Fraser, 49, who had been suspended by the Leicestershire force since December 2010 over allegations of gross misconduct and fraud, was pronounced dead at the scene. The death is not being treated as suspicious, British Transport Police (BTP) said.

Mr Fraser and his wife Teresa, a serving police officer with West Midlands Constabulary, appeared in court in July charged with perverting the course of justice over a speeding incident in Scotland. They were due to appear in court again on Monday.

It is alleged that Mrs Fraser, suspended from her force pending the outcome of the investigation, accepted responsibility for a speeding offence committed by her husband in Strathclyde last September.

The separate fraud allegations for which Mr Fraser was being investigated are believed to centre around a time-share scheme in Florida.

Leicestershire Police and Leicestershire Police Authority issued a joint statement in which they said they were "deeply shocked and saddened" by the death.