A cop accused of stealing almost four kilos of cocaine from his own force was caught after he accidentally dropped a drug wrap in the grounds of his daughters primary school, Liverpool Crown Court has heard.
Footage from the schools CCTV system showed today the small bag falling from PC Andrew Talbots back pocket back in 2020, which was later seized by his employer Greater Manchester Police.
The 54-year-old father of two faces 13 charges, including taking 3.9kg of cocaine from Greater Manchester Polices serious crime division between April 2017 and January 2020.
Prosecutor James Lake told a jury today that Talbot admits to stealing the cocaine and accessing the computer system to search for known or suspected drug dealers in his local area.
He has also admitted conspiring with a convicted drug dealer to misconduct himself by using his position as a GMP officer to help him recover a drug debt.
The former police officer also pleaded guilty to accessing the GMP computer systems to provide information to a close friend who was being investigated for assault.
Greater Manchester Police office Andrew Talbot at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday accused of stealing nearly four kilos of cocaine from GMP serious crime division
When interviewed in February 2020 the defendant said he had been a cocaine user since 2012 and stated he took the drugs to work because he did not want to leave them at home where his children were
Talbot however denies misconduct in public office by accessing GMP intelligence information about known or suspected drug dealers in the Greater Manchester area between May 2018 and February 7, 2020.
Mr Lake explained that while he accepted searching the computer systems he denies doing it for the purpose of supply and was not guilty of misconduct.
He also denies failing to comply with a notice under the Regulation Investigatory Powers Act which Mr Lake explained involved Talbot failing to provide the investigating team with the correct pin number for his phone.
Mr Lake told the court that at the time of Talbots suspension he was working within the Serious Crime Division at Nexus House.
A police investigation uncovered that he had criminally misconducted himself in his role as a police officer. He routinely and brazenly abused the trust the public had placed in him, he alleged.
After the investigation began when the drug wrap had been found in early 2020, he was searched at work and they found further cocaine on him and in his car.
They also found drug paraphernalia at his home along with bags containing traces of cocaine.
After the discovery of the cocaine at work, officers looked into his access to the property store at Nexus House and his specific interest in large amounts of cocaine seized from two police investigations, Operation Gamber and Cosmetic.
The cocaine seized from those operations was re-weighed by the Forensic Science Service and just under four kilograms - 3.943kg - was missing from the relevant exhibit bags.
The Crown say four kilograms of cocaine is far too much for personal use, even for someone who was a user, which he was.
When the memory card of his mobile phone was examined the contents revealed the involvement of drug dealer Keith Bretherton.
Investigations showed he had accessed police systems on numerous occasions to locate a man who owed Mr Bretherton money for drugs.
Mr Bretherton used the information to visit the man, who had moved from Manchester to Dorset, to enforce the debt. Talbot posed as a police officer in charge of a bogus investigation to the man to encourage and intimidate him to repay £20,000.
Talbot had also accessed the Forces Opus computer system to update a friend about an investigation into an assault at the Lock Bar in which he was the suspect and he provided him with the victims address, claimed Mr Lake.
Photographs of cocaine seized in Operation Cosmetic were found on his mobile and Mr Lake claimed they were taken to show potential buyers the quantities of cocaine he could access.
Mr Lake claimed that Talbot had an unhealthy and criminal relationship with Keith Bretherton and he was one of his outlets for the stolen cocaine.
The defendant had previously said he had been a cocaine user since 2012 and stated he took the drugs to work because he did not want to leave them at home where his children were. He said he would buy an ounce at a time for £800.
The trial continues.