A cocaine-addicted detective who stole drugs with a retail value of almost £400,000 from police stores and supplied them to criminals has been jailed for 19 years.
Andrew Talbot, 54, from Leigh in Greater Manchester, was caught in an investigation launched after he dropped a small bag of cocaine outside his daughter’s primary school.
The CCTV marked the beginning of the unravelling of Talbot’s criminal operations while serving as a detective in the serious crime division at Greater Manchester Police’s anti-corruption unit.
Talbot conspired with convicted drug dealer Keith Bretherton, 50, to sell the stolen drugs, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
Sentencing him on Friday, Judge Neil Flewitt KC said: “As a result of conscientious and dedicated police work, large quantities of Class A drugs were taken off the streets by officers of Greater Manchester Police, many of whom were your colleagues.
“As a result of your addiction and greed a significant quantity of that cocaine was put back into circulation.
“You deceived your colleagues and you betrayed the trust placed in you by them and the community.”
The inquiry into Talbot’s actions began in February 2020, when CCTV footage captured him dropping the small bag of cocaine outside his daughter’s primary school.
Talbot was subsequently arrested at his workplace when officers found him with an ounce of cocaine.
Searches of his car and home then revealed more cocaine, drug paraphernalia, and evidence indicating he had been exploiting his access to the force’s property storage for illegal activities.
Detectives also discovered that Talbot had stolen nearly four kilograms of cocaine from police property storage, which he then redistributed on the streets of Greater Manchester.
As part of the probe, an examination of a police property store revealed twelve drug exhibits destined for destruction had been tampered with or damaged.
James Lake, prosecuting, said: “He 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.
The investigation also exposed Talbot’s conspiracy with Bretherton, who was sentenced at the crown court.
Bretherton received an eight-and-a-half-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to possession of cannabis, possession of cocaine with intent to supply, and conspiracy with Talbot to commit misconduct in public office.
Following a trial, Talbot was found guilty of supplying a Class A drug, 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 to commit misconduct in public office, a further count of misconduct in public office, and unauthorised access to computer material.
Earlier this year, Talbot was dismissed from the police force at an accelerated misconduct hearing following his initial court admissions.
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.”
Detective Chief Inspector Jennifer Adams said: “This is one of the most shocking cases of corruption we’ve uncovered, and Talbot will now serve a long sentence behind bars for abusing his role as a police officer.
“He betrayed his oath to serve the public and instead became a criminal; he not only stole drugs that had been taken from the streets, but he also unlawfully used police systems and conspired with a known local drug dealer to add further crime and fear to communities.
“There is no place for Talbot or anyone else in police uniform who cannot be trusted to catch criminals and keep our streets safe.”
