Former Somerset PC who seized and returned drugs barred for life

The Independent Office for Police Conduct said Biggins had breached the standards of professional behaviour

A police officer who undertook a "noble form of corruption" by returning Class A drugs to users in exchange for information about dealers committed gross misconduct, a panel has ruled.

PC Jonathan Biggins searched addicts in Weston-super-Mare and handed back their drugs once they revealed who sold them.

A misconduct panel ruled he would have been dismissed had he not resigned.

The officer, who did not attend but denied the allegations, was placed on a national policing barred list.

PC Biggins will no longer be able to serve in policing or other law enforcement agencies.

'Completely inappropriate'

Barrister George Thomas, representing Avon and Somerset Police, told the panel at force headquarters on Tuesday: "PC Biggins was prioritising going after drug dealers over the victims of the drugs trade.

"It is, in a sense, a noble form of corruption but the public have to understand that police who are pursuing drug dealers do not succumb to lowering themselves to the standards of those they are seeking to catch.

"PC Biggins was genuinely trying to take out drug dealers but was using a completely inappropriate step to get to that."

Two officers claim they witnessed drugs being returned to users for information

The five-day hearing, led by an independent Legally Qualified Chair (LQC), heard how between September 2019 and October 2020, PC Biggins approached a number of people in Weston-super-Mare to carry out a stop and search for drugs.

When he found drugs in their possession, he gave them back in exchange for information about the dealers that supplied them.

One less experienced colleague was told by PC Biggins not to include anything in their notebook about drugs being seized from and returned to a drug user, which led to documents being falsified, said the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

An investigation was carried out after two officers raised concerns over PC Biggin's actions with a supervisor.

Barrister Nick Walker, mitigating, said the former constable, who resigned before the disciplinary panel hearing, had been a "respected and successful" police officer with a previously unblemished disciplinary record.

He said not every member of the public would consider what he did as serious as some other misconduct cases.

'Police tactics undermined'

Announcing the panel's decision, LQC Peter Cadman said: "His {Biggins} actions resulted in harm to public confidence in the police and the reputation of the profession.

"The supply of drugs was to vulnerable drug users."

Supt Mark Edgington, head of Professional Standards at Avon and Somerset Police, said: "Stop and search is a valuable tool in our fight against illegal drugs which cause harm and damage in our communities and unfortunately PC Biggins' actions will have undermined the use of this power in the eyes of the public."