A police officer who undertook a “noble form of corruption” by returning Class A drugs to users in exchange for information about their dealers committed gross misconduct, a panel has ruled. PC Jonathan Biggins targeted suppliers by stop-and-searching known addicts in the street in Weston-super-Mare and “succumbing to the temptation” of ignoring proper process by handing back their illegal substances once they revealed who sold them.
An Avon & Somerset Police misconduct panel, led by an independent Legally Qualified Chair (LQC), ruled he would have been dismissed had he not resigned before the five-day hearing at force headquarters in Portishead. The officer, who did not attend but denied the allegations, was also placed on a national policing barred list.
Barrister George Thomas, representing the constabulary, told the panel on Tuesday, May 23: “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.” Mr Thomas said one of the two officers who raised concerns to supervisors, PC Lauren Rickwood, had been placed in an “extremely difficult situation” because she had not only witnessed PC Biggins returning drugs to a user but the officer had then told her to omit that from her notebook.
She was on her first day with the plain-clothes Operation Avalon unit when the incident took place, and the information provided by the user led to them arresting three suspected dealers near the ferris wheel minutes later. Mr Thomas said: “His conversation with PC Rickwood demonstrates that he was circumventing proper process.
“It can do nothing but severely undermine public confidence in the police if it’s known that an experienced officer has succumbed to the temptation to try to tackle the drugs problem in this way.” He said PC Biggins’ actions would have “sown mistrust” from colleagues.
Barrister Nick Walker, mitigating, said the former constable 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.
Announcing the panel’s decision, LQC Peter Cadman said: “His 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.
“There was harm to PC Rickwood, a relatively new entrant to policing, there was an abuse of authority, there was concealing of his actions by deliberately omitting his actions from police records. The only appropriate sanction is that this former officer would have been dismissed if he was still an officer.”
The allegations related to three separate stop-and-searches in Weston in the spring and summer of 2020. The panel found two of these proven – both where PC Biggins’ colleagues had raised concerns and gave “compelling” evidence during the hearing of his gross misconduct – and one not proven.
Avon & Somerset Police head of professional standards Supt Mark Edgington said afterwards: “These were very serious allegations against this former officer who, from the evidence provided at the hearing, clearly did not follow the proper procedures or policies when carrying out these stop searches. 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.
“We actively encourage our staff to report any concerns or information about potential misconduct, unprofessional behaviour or integrity issues, and we have a range of reporting methods in place, including a confidential and anonymous reporting line.”
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