Detective who stole £400k of seized drugs jailed

A “cocaine addicted” police officer who was found to be stealing drugs from an evidence store after he accidentally dropped a bag of white powder at his daughter's school has been jailed.

Andrew Talbot, at the time a Greater Manchester Police detective, had taken just under 4kg (9lb) of cocaine worth almost £400,000 from police property rooms between 2018 and 2020.

He also used the force's computer systems to find a drug dealer to help him sell the drugs on the streets of Manchester.

The 54-year-old was found guilty of supplying the drug and misconduct in public office and sentenced to 19 years in jail at Liverpool Crown Court.

The detective stole drugs from Greater Manchester's Police evidence rooms

Sentencing him on Friday, Judge Neil Flewitt KC said Talbot had deceived colleagues to put a “significant” quantity of cocaine back into circulation as a result of his “addiction and greed”.

The investigation into Talbot by GMP's anti-corruption unit began in February 2020 after he dropped a small bag of cocaine outside his daughter's primary school.

Prosecutor James Lake said staff found the bag on a footpath, and saw it fall from Talbot's person after looking back at CCTV.

"Unsurprisingly, given they knew he was a police officer, they contacted the police," he told the court.

'As much as he could fit in his pockets'

Talbot was arrested on 17 February 2020 after arriving for work, and officers found 26.8g (0.9oz) of high-grade cocaine in his coat pocket, as well as smaller amounts of lower purity, the court heard.

Snap bags and pieces of paper with exhibit references for Operation Cosmetic, which investigated the nationwide supply of cocaine, were found in his car and three bullets were found at his home in Leigh, Greater Manchester.

Officers checked the drugs seized as part of the operation and found just under 4kg of cocaine was missing

Mr Lake said Talbot accepted when he attended the property store "he would take pocketfuls, as much as he could fit in his pockets".

The court heard the drugs had an estimated wholesale value of £140,000 and a retail value of £394,500.

Talbot conducted multiple searches of GMP's confidential computer systems for known or suspected drug dealers, which led him to conspire to sell the drugs with dealer Keith Bretherton, 50.

Keith Bretherton helped Talbot sell the stolen cocaine

The judge said: "Although it is unclear exactly how Andrew Talbot disposed of the stolen cocaine, I have no doubt that he sold it to criminals who, in turn, cut it and sold it on the streets."

Talbot also provided confidential police information to a friend under investigation for assault and to Bretherton, to help him recover a drug debt worth more than £20,000, the court heard.

Ryan Donoghue, defending Talbot, said there was no evidence Talbot was living a "lavish lifestyle".

He said: "He did have at the time a long-standing addiction to cocaine."

The court heard Talbot had served in the police force for 20 years, and had spent three years in the armed forces, but had become addicted to cocaine after difficulties in his personal life and due to his role in an operation in which Anthony Grainger was shot by armed police in Culcheth, Cheshire.

Talbot was found guilty following a trial of supplying a controlled drug of Class A, misconduct in public office and failing to provide the passcode for his phone.

He had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of cocaine, possession of ammunition without a firearm certificate, theft of cocaine, conspiracy, with Bretherton, to commit misconduct in public office, a further count of misconduct in public office, and unauthorised access to computer material.

Bretherton, also of Leigh, Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis, possession of cocaine with intent to supply, and conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office and was jailed for eight-and-a-half years.