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, formerly a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) detective constable, conspired with convicted drug dealer Keith Bretherton, 50, to sell the stolen drugs. DCI Jennifer Adams from GMP's anti-corruption unit described the case as "one of the most shocking instances of corruption" her team had ever uncovered. Report by Covellm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00Today, Andrew Talbot begins a long sentence behind bars for abusing his role as police officer.
00:05He betrayed his oath to serve the public and instead became a criminal.
00:09GMP anti-corruption detectives have worked tirelessly to bring him to justice for the full extent of his crimes.
00:15We launched our investigation into Talbot after he dropped a small bag of cocaine outside his daughter's primary school
00:21and soon discovered that this was just the tip of the iceberg.
00:24Talbot stole four kilograms of cocaine from property storage,
00:27where he had privileged access working as a detective in our serious crime division.
00:32He proceeded to redistribute these drugs onto the streets of Greater Manchester.
00:36Talbot unlawfully used police systems and was conspiring with a local drug dealer to add further crime and fear into our communities.
00:44This is one of the most shocking cases of corruption uncovered by Greater Manchester Police's Anti-Corruption Unit,
00:50a specialist unit dedicated to investigating criminality within the force.
00:54Whilst cases like this are concerning, they are also extremely rare.
00:59There is no place in policing for Talbot or anyone else like him who cannot be trusted to uphold the law and keep our streets safe.
01:06We will continue to relentlessly root out those who are not fit to represent the thousands of hard-working officers who serve the people of Greater Manchester.
01:15I would like to thank the investigation team for their tenacity and dedication in pursuing this matter.
01:21I would also like to acknowledge the work of the Crown Prosecution Service in helping present a robust prosecution case
01:27to secure these convictions and expose Talbot for the criminal that he is.