Top detectivesteps down after 30 years

A SENIOR detective who caught one of Britain’s most notorious child killers and led the police investigation into the Bradford riots has retired after 30 years’ service.

Det Ch Supt Max McLean, who stepped down yesterday, was the head of West Yorkshire Police’s elite Homicide and Major Enquiry Team and helped solve some of the region’s most shocking crimes.

They included the murder of 11-year-old schoolgirl Lesley Molseed, who was abducted, sexually assaulted and stabbed by Ronald Castree near Ripponden in 1975.

Mr McLean joined West Yorkshire Police in 1980 and progressed as a detective at all ranks, serving predominantly in Leeds, Bradford and Halifax.

In July 2001, he oversaw the investigation into race rioting in Bradford, a probe which resulted in more than 200 men being jailed for their part in attacks on police and businesses. He was Calderdale’s divisional commander for four years.

West Yorkshire chief constable Sir Norman Bettison said Mr McLean had “left a significant impression on policing in this county and beyond”.