MERSEYSIDE’S chief constable has defended a working trip to the Caribbean after being photographed by paparazzi while sunbathing on a beach.

Chief Constable Jon Murphy was called in to help detectives in the Cayman Islands after a murder spree by local gangsters left five people dead in nine days.

As the UK’s foremost expert on gangland crime, he flew to Grand Cayman alongside Det Chief Supt Tony Doherty, the head of Merseyside’s Matrix squad, and Det Chief Supt Brian McNeill, former head of Merseyside’s crime operation unit and now an official with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).

The three, who were there ahead of a 16-strong delegation to set up a multi- agency task force, were seen snorkelling, sun bathing, reading paperbacks and going on a long boat trip.

The pictures ran in several national tabloids.

Yesterday, the 53-year-old father-of-two defended the trip and his colleagues.

He said: "No doubt a lot of people will have seen the articles over the weekend referring to the visit to the Cayman Islands last week.

“I want to make sure that they have all the facts before they make their minds up.

"The visit to the Cayman Islands last week was the result of a request from the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) and the Governor of the Island for help after they suffered five fatal shootings in just nine days.

"I was asked to do two things: put together a team of experienced detectives from across the North West forces to support the RCIPS and go in my capacity as the business lead for ACPO on Serious and Organised Crime.

“This was because of the groundbreaking work that has been done on Merseyside over the years in tackling and disrupting organised crime groups.

“In addition, I felt it important to ensure that the safety of the team of officers who have now arrived on the island was guaranteed in a hostile environment.”

He said “small amounts” of downtime were included in the group’s itinerary and released the details to the media, while adding that none of the trip was paid for by Merseyside tax payers.

Mr Murphy and his team were backed up by David Baines, the Commissioner of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, who said the story was “a cheap headline- grabbing swipe”, that the officers worked an average of 12 hours a day, when you included their 16-hour flight times, and had offered “invaluable” experience in tackling gang-related violence.

He said: "Chief Constable Murphy and his team worked hard during their time in the Cayman Islands.

“They completed a gruelling schedule and delivered much more than we had originally asked of them.”