Accused PC allegedly seized then returned Class A drugs

PC Biggins of Avon and Somerset Police is facing a misconduct hearing at force headquarters in Portishead

A police officer has been accused of gross misconduct after allegedly seizing and then returning Class A drugs to users in exchange for information about dealers.

PC Jonathan Biggins, who was involved in a long-running operation to tackle drugs in Weston-super-Mare, is also accused of falsifying records.

The incidents all took place in 2020.

Mr Biggins, who has since resigned from Avon and Somerset Police, denies all allegations.

The misconduct hearing on 16 May at force headquarters in Portishead, was told how Mr Biggins was in plain clothes when he allegedly seized and gave back Class A drugs to users during three separate stop-and-searchers in exchange for information about the dealers.

The information provided to PC Biggins soon led to arrests of the suspected dealers.

'Body camera turned off'

Representing the police force, barrister George Thomas said PC Biggins also turned off his body-worn camera at crucial moments during the incidents, so his actions were not recorded.

He said on each occasion, each drug user stopped, "quickly and calmly volunteered specific, helpful evidence about those supplying the drugs to them."

Mr Thomas said it was "remarkable" that they would be "prepared to disrupt their own access to drugs by telling a police officer where they got drugs from."

"There would be no incentive for them to do so," he added.

Mr Thomas said the likely explanation for their "remarkable" declarations and for them identifying dealers, was down to the "immediate benefit" of having access to drugs.

The first incident allegedly took place in Clarence Park

He said that while the three users were not deemed reliable witnesses, their statements were corroborated by other accounts.

Mr Thomas said how during the first incident in Clarence Park on 29 April 2020, PC Biggins stopped a man who had just bought three wraps of crack cocaine for £20.

He alleged that PC Biggins seized one wrap but kept the other two on the ground for the user to retrieve in exchange for the dealer's name and phone number.

He said the officer falsely wrote in his pocket notebook that he had found just one wrap on the man and that he assumed the user had "dropped or swallowed" the other two.

The barrister said this was implausible because PC Biggins had made no attempt to search the small area where he had been watching the man despite the fact it was daytime and there were children in the park.

He added the officer's failure to seek medical help would have "utterly reprehensible" if he had really believed the user may have swallowed the cocaine.

He said the second incident, in the town centre on 26 May 2020, followed a similar pattern, with a drug user revealing their dealer's details.

Questioning why the man would volunteer the phone number and name of those dealing drugs to a plain-clothed police officer, when he is "under no compulsion", Mr Thomas said it was inexplicable unless the man was having his drugs returned in exchange for information.

'Sort this out another way'

He said the third incident was on 28 July 2020 when PC Biggins stopped-and-searched a man in possession of one wrap of cocaine and a wrap of heroin.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), the drug user said in his statement that PC Biggins told him: "We can sort this out another way" and returned the cocaine.

The man then gave him information about a dealer.

Mr Thomas said PC Biggins later submitted only one wrap as evidence and claimed the other turned out to be rolled-up clingfilm.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) launched an investigation in September 2020 after some of PC Biggins' colleagues reported him.

He is alleged to have breached the standards of professional behaviour for police officers in terms of honesty and integrity; discreditable conduct; authority, respect and courtesy; duties and responsibilities; and orders and instructions.

The hearing continues.