AFTER 14 years of tireless campaigning, Les Balkwell believes he is getting closer to uncovering the truth about his son’s death.

Lee Balkwell, 33, was found with his head wedged between the drum and chassis of a cement mixer at Baldwin’s Farm, South Ockendon, on July 18, 2002.

Even though his death was ruled to have been a tragic accident, grieving Les, now 70, still believes his son was murdered and has raised dozens of complaints about the way the investigation was handled.

Last year, he was given permission to sue Essex Police for up to £50,000, and proceedings are set to start at the High Court next week.

Speaking to the Echo, Mr Balkwell, from Hornchurch, said: “I was told when I started out this was going to be a long road, but I didn’t expect to still be going 14 years later.

“In light of more serious information that has come out – without the disclosure we are seeking next week- this hasn’t ended.

“Now I am getting more help from more places. This has got to be exposed.”

An inquest into Lee’s death reached a verdict of unlawful killing, and his employer, Simon Bromley, was later cleared of manslaughter by negligence.

Mr Balkwell, however, has always insisted his son was murdered by a gang of men linked to an organised crime group and has levelled accusations of corruption at Essex Police.

Last month, a new report by British Transport Police revealed that a senior officer at Kent Police sent a ‘covert referral’ to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) after investigating corruption allegations linked to the case.

Det Supt Rachel Ireland told the body one of the allegations was “too serious” for the force to investigate unsupervised.

Mr Balkwell said: “What she was saying is that she didn’t trust the people around her. She wants the IPCC to investigate in secret, that’s how concerned she was.

“And she was the head of the professional standards department- that’s how high up she was.”

The officer is now understood to have changed roles but the IPCC refused to discuss the case with the Echo.

Mr Balkwell said he will demand the release of documents next week that he says have previously been withheld.

He said: “What we are hoping to get are the full documents that were held at the time. We want the truth.

“We know chunks of text were removed from the original STORM (incident) record.

“We know that the crime scene page is a photocopy and they have refused to show us the original.

“And we want the extraction video, the full one, not the one that’s got 35 minutes removed.”

He believes Essex Police will offer a deal just short of the £50k, after he turned down two previous offers to settle.

Mr Balkwell said regardless of whether he accepts a deal, his fight for the truth will continue.

Timeline of tragedy

AN INQUEST found that Lee Balkwell was cleaning dried cement from the inside of a cement mixer late at night in July 2002 when his employer entered the cab to rotate it.

For reasons unknown, Lee decided to get out while it was turning and was killed.

Police and ambulance crews were called at 1am but the IPCC later found there were serious failings with the way the case was handled.

Investigating officers failed to collect clothes and other items from people at the scene.

The IPCC also found statements were not taken, no phone records were obtained and that police had failed to be “open-minded” about Lee’s death.

Essex Police issued a full apology to Mr Balkwell's family, opening the way the for the lawsuit.

Detectives launched a covert murder enquiry in 2005 but found no evidence to support a theory that Lee was killed due to a “domestic” issue.

His body was exhumed in March 2013 for a new post mortem and so that police could examine a phone that was buried with him.

In October 2014, Simon Bromley was cleared of manslaughter but found guilty of failing to ensure the health and safety of Mr Balkwell.