DETECTIVES `MADE MONEY FROM DRUG RAIDS'

A corrupt detective and a drug dealer who became his lover were at the
centre of a scam to seize and sell narcotics and then split the
profits between themselves and other police officers, the Old Bailey
heard yesterday.

Robert Clark, 37, had an affair with Evelyn Fleckney, a registered
police informant, and used the details he gave her to make a number of
drug busts between 1991 and 1995.

Orlando Pownall, prosecuting, said Clark and a colleague Detective
Constable Christopher Drury, 37, stole drugs found on the raids and
gave them to Fleckney to `recycle through her contacts'.

`This had the effect of returning to the streets the very drugs they
were entrusted to seize,' said Mr Pownall.

Clark, who adopted the code-name Bart Simpson, and Fleckney, known by
the pseudonyms Pauline Collins and Jack Higgins, used the money to buy
each other presents, including jewellery, furniture and sculptures,
and nights at hotels, the court heard.

The arrangement worked so well that Fleckney was regularly seen at
crime squad parties and at one celebration bought champagne for
officers present, the Old Bailey heard.

Mr Pownall said that Clark had `abused his position' and that the
relationship with Fleckney was `thoroughly corrupt'. He described
Fleckney as `unscrupulous, ruthless and resourceful'.

Two other officers, Peter Lawson, 53, and Roger Pearce, 52, were also
involved in the operation but to a lesser extent, Mr Pownall told the
jury.

All the officers were members of the now disbanded number nine
regional crime squad, which was based at East Dulwich police station
in south-east London.

`The four defendants, particularly Clark and Drury, succumbed to the
temptation of financial gain. The proceeds of sale were shared.
Rewards paid to Fleckney for information provided were also split
between her and Clark.

`Such temptation was made the greater because those from whom they
stole could hardly be described as victims.'

Mr Pownall said the officers were confident that Fleckney would not
turn on them because it would ruin an arrangment which paid her well.
Their actitivies were only exposed when a drug dealer who had been
fleeced by Clark and Drury was arrested by other police officers. They
referred the matter to CIB2, the police complaints division, which
started an investigation that took two years.

In October, 1996, Fleckney was arrested for conspiracy to supply
ecstasy, cocaine and cannabis. She was convicted and sentenced to 15
years.

`Clark was called as a witness for the defence in her trial,' said Mr
Pownall. `He denied having a sexual relationship with Fleckney and
said that although he had meetings with her at hotels, he never spent
the night with her. That was plainly a pack of lies.'

After her conviction, Fleckney provided details of her alleged corrupt
dealings with Clark. As part of a renewed investigation, police
questioned another former member of the regional crime squad,
Detective Constable Neil Putnam.

`During a series of interviews, he admitted his involvement in a large
number of offences,' said Mr Pownall. Putnam then agreed to help the
investigation. `Both Putnam and Fleckney in November last year pleaded
guilty to a number of offences. They now await sentence.'

Mr Pownall said that Clark became Fleckney's police `handler' in May
1991. Four months later she tipped him off that a light aircraft
flying to the UK from Spain would drop off pounds 300,000 worth of
cannabis in a field near Nutley, a village in East Sussex.

Mr Pownall said Clark kept six bars of the resin that was seized -
worth pounds 2,400 - and gave them to Fleckney for her to sell through
contacts on the street. `There is no evidence to suggest that the
theft of drugs by Clark was pre-planned. You may think it more likely
that he simply took the opportunity when it presented itself.

`According to Fleckney and Putnam, the so-called Nutley Job was the
first occasion that Clark had involved them in criminal activity. It
was by no means the last.' Fleckney was paid pounds 6,000 for the
information which led to the bust, though it is thought that Clark
kept most of the money for himself, the court heard.

The affair between Clark and Fleckney continued the following year and
on his birthday in July, she bought him a sculpture called Baboon
Baby, and they spent the night at the Lowdnes hotel in Belgravia,
central London.

Clark and Drury have denied charges alleging they conspired to supply
cannabis, cocaine and raw opium. All four men have denied doing acts
tending or intended to pervert the course of public justice. Clark,
Drury and Lawson have been suspended from duty. Pearce retired from
the force two years ago after nearly 30 years' service.

The trial continues.