A SENIOR Torfaen council officer who was cleared of fraud earlier this year has made a complaint about Gwent Police chief constable Jeff Farrar and said he is "looking for justice".

Gwent Police have confirmed that they received a complaint concerning Mr Farrar, as well as his predecessor Carmel Napier, Detective Chief Superintendent Geoff Ronayne and three other Gwent Police employees.

The complaints were made by Farooq Dastgir, 53, who ran an IT centre dealing with data from Torfaen Council, Monmouthshire Council and Gwent Police before he was suspended on full pay in 2011.

The circumstances of the police investigation will be looked at following the complaint to The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

He and his co-defendant Gary Inchliffe were accused of false accounting during a high profile three-week trial in which the prosecution claimed Mr Dastgir used council money to pay for a South Wales Argus supplement advertising digital developments in Torfaen which he was told should be funded through private sponsorship.

The prosecution had claimed Mr Inchliffe, 52, had agreed to submit a “sham” invoice of £10,000 for cabling work which had never been, and would never be, done.

His company Camelot IT South Wales would use the money to sponsor the supplement, the court was told.

But the defence said the invoice was legitimate and related to work which would be done in the future. This kind of payment was not unusual, the court heard.

A jury took less than three hours to return its verdict at Cardiff Crown Court and the pair were unanimously acquitted.

A Gwent Police Spokeswoman said: “Gwent Police has received a complaint which was referred under mandatory criteria to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

“The IPCC have since referred it back to the force for local investigation and the complaint is currently being assessed. It would be inappropriate to comment any further at this time.”

Following the trial in May, Mr Dastgir, of Coed Camlas, New Inn, said: “The last two and a half years have been a great strain for me and my family, whose love and support has kept me strong.

“I have done nothing wrong. I have given 28 years of loyal service to Torfaen and I hope I am able to return to my post in the near future.”

Mr Dastgir said today: "I was acquitted so I am looking for justice, like any person would."

A spokesman for the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said an initial referral was assessed on the information available by the IPCC and in June we referred the complaint back to Gwent Police for them to deal with.

The complaint has since been re-referred to the IPCC with further information, and we will be assessing it.