Ex-policeman cleared of stealing crime money

A FORMER Warwickshire Police officer has today, Friday, been cleared of the theft of a large amount of money from the force.

Paul Andrew Greaves, 57, from Carlton, Nottinghamshire, has been found not guilty of the theft of money from Warwickshire Police after a four week retrial at Birmingham Crown Court.

The money - believed to be in the region of £113,000 - was stolen from the former Warwickshire Police headquarters in Leek Woottoon sometime between June 2009 and September 2011.

It had been seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act in 2009 following a successful operation that resulted in the conviction of three people at Warwick Crown Court in January 2010 for a variety of offences including possession of firearms and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

The matter was formally referred to the IPCC, which determined the theft should be investigated locally.

Mr Greaves, who had 25 years' of service as an officer, was initially arrested on suspicion of theft on Wednesday, 20th March, 2013, and he was charged six weeks later.

Following several appearances before magistrates in Leamington Spa, he appeared at Warwick Crown Court on Thursday, 19th September, 2013, when he pleaded not guilty to the theft.

The original trial began last year and lasted six weeks. The jury heard Mr Greaves had large debts, which the prosecution said he had paid off in the weeks after the money went missing, but they failed to reach a verdict and were discharged.

Detective Supt Nick Tomkinson, who led the investigation, said: "We fully accept the decision of the jury today.

"Since the theft of the money we have had a consistent team of officers and staff assigned to this investigation and they have worked tirelessly in their attempts to uncover the truth.

"This case remains open and we will take every opportunity to review this case in the same way we would review any outstanding serious case should new evidence come to light.

"Warwickshire Police regularly reviews its policies and procedures in relation to the retention of cash seized.

"The most recent significant change is the introduction of a new Seized and Found Property Policy in September 2014 to harmonise procedural arrangements across the alliance.

"Regular audits are completed in accordance with this policy to provide assurance to the independent audit committee and help us to be able to tighten our procedures wherever necessary to make them even more robust when considered necessary."

The Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner has said it was ‘clearly unacceptable’ that such a substantial amount of money was able to be stolen from the force.

Philip Seccombe said: “This judgement brings about the end of a long legal process and clearly I respect the jury’s verdict.

"It remains the fact that a sizeable quantity of cash remains unaccounted for when it should have been stored safely and securely by Warwickshire Police.

“This is clearly unacceptable and I have already sought assurances from the Chief Constable that policies and practices have been changed to ensure this cannot happen again.

“Along with the independent audit committee I will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that the force’s procedures remain as rigorous as possible.

“I will also be asking the Chief Constable what the force’s next steps will be to try and resolve this open case.”