SURREY Police and Crime Commissioner Kevin Hurley has demanded “a full and unqualified apology” from the Home Secretary Theresa May, after she publicly accused him of bringing the role of the PCC into disrepute by criticising former Surrey chief constable Lynne Owens.

Mrs May made a speech to the Policy Exchange last month in which she admitted she feared she had created a “monster” by setting up PCCs in England and Wales and said a number of incidents had given the office a “bad name”.

The Tory MP included criticism by Mr Hurley of his former Chief Constable Lynne Owens, who is now director-general of the National Crime Agency.

Despite Mrs May’s misgivings, she stated she was planning to extend the powers of PCCs after their elections in May.

Mr Hurley went public this week, when he posted three letters from himself to the Home Secretary, fired off after her speech, and three replies from the Cabinet Minister to him.

In a letter to Mrs May dated February 11, he wrote: “To allege I have given PCCs a bad name is totally untrue and grossly defamatory and very damaging to my reputation.

“You will understand that with the forthcoming PCC elections your defamatory allegations could not be more damaging.”

Mr Hurley (below) is defending his seat as an independent candidate in the May elections with a challenge coming from Tory county councillor David Munro, the Lib Dem’s Paul Kennedy, Labour}s Howard Kaye and UKIP candidate Julia Searle.

Responding to Mr Hurley’s letter on February 23, Mrs May wrote: “I strongly disagree with your characterisation of my comments.

“It is a matter of record you proposed pay rises over successive years for Lynne Owens during her tenure as Chief Constable of Surrey.

“I also carefully followed the national media coverage of Lynne Owens’ appointment as director-general of the NCA and the comments directly attributed to you in respect of this appointment, which undoubtedly helped fan the flames of the media’s reporting of this issue.”

Defending his actions in making the correspondence public, Mr Hurley said: “Either I have told a lie, or the Home Secretary has.

“I invite you to read the letters on my office website and decide for yourselves.”

The row follows commends he made last week about wanting to “batter” and “break the legs” of a soon-to-be-released prisoner in response to a Surrey man upset that the man who stabbed him in the lung would soon be back in the community – see page 12.

• Mr Hurley has announced he will provide £100,000 from his Community Safety Fund for a pilot project in Surrey which aims to reduce re-offending by offering women who have been arrested the chance to avoid a criminal record or worse, a prison sentence.

From May 4, suitable women will be offered the chance to take part in a rehabilitation scheme which will be based in Woking Women’s Centre and will be a joint effort between the PCC, Surrey Police, and county council plus other agencies.

A woman accepted on the scheme will be bailed for 60 days while her case is referred to a panel, who will decide on the best ways to help her avoid involvement in crime.

Newly-funded staff at the centre will be able to take up 40 additional women per month. The total cost of the pilot is £149,124 and the remaining £49,124 will come from the Ministry of Justice.