Suspended officer dies on rail line

A senior police officer who had been suspended over allegations of gross misconduct and fraud has been found dead on a railway line after being hit by a train.

The body of Assistant Chief Constable Gordon Fraser, from Leicestershire Police, was discovered after officers were called to reports of a man being struck by a train in Aston Magna, Moreton in Marsh, Gloucestershire, on Friday lunchtime.

Mr Fraser was pronounced dead at the scene. The death is not being treated as suspicious, British Transport Police (BTP) said.

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

Mr Fraser was due to appear in court on Monday over a separate charge of perverting the course of justice in connection with a speeding incident. Merseyside Police confirmed earlier this year they were investigating him following allegations of misconduct and fraud but further details were not disclosed.

They centred around a £2 million timeshare property crash in Florida, the Daily Mail reported. They arose after claims that timeshares were bought with money borrowed from US banks and then offered to other officers for investment as holiday homes, the paper said.

But when the property market slumped the investors were allegedly left out of pocket, it added.

Mr Fraser had been suspended from duty pending the investigation since December 2010. He was due to appear before St Albans magistrates alongside his wife Teresa, a serving officer with West Midlands Police, on Monday.

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

Mr and Mrs Fraser, from Warwickshire, were charged with perverting the course of justice earlier this year after an investigation by Hertfordshire Police on behalf of Leicestershire Police Authority and in consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service.