CHIEF Constable Paul Stephenson pledged that the quest for truth amid allegations of police brutality and lies would be thorough and probing.

Lancashire's police chief spoke out after District Judge Paul Firth's comments as he threw out a case of threatening behaviour and assaulting a police officer against Patrick Creaney, 29, of Topaz Street, Blackburn.

The judge pinpointed six problems with the police evidence and said he was not sure officers had told not him the truth in court.

And he said he believed that Mr Creaney, who claimed after the case collapsed that he had been kicked and hit with a police baton up to 20 times in an alleyway, had suffered at the hands of the police.

The judge also revealed six problems with the police evidence surrounding the incident, in Blakey Moor, Blackburn.

Mr Stephenson said: "I was very concerned to hear the comments made by the district judge about officers of this constabulary.

"The matter is now subject to an investigation which will be thorough and probing in its search for the truth.

"It has been voluntarily referred to the Police Complaints Authority so I am unable to comment further at this time."

The judge's concerns included an officer failing to secure a video which would have supported or disproved Mr Creaney's claims he was beaten unconscious by police.