By Tony Winterburn • Published: 13 Jun 2020 • 8:39
Crooked Cop Stephen Cloney jailed for tipping off criminals
The prosection for the Crown said police constable Stephen Cloney, 41, was divorced, debt-ridden and disillusioned with his job and had spent four years scanning Merseyside Police’s computer systems to pass on information to serious criminal gangs for cash payments
The former anti-terrorism officer wept uncontrollably as he was jailed for taking £10,000 in bribes from criminals to divulge details of force investigations which included drug dealing, burglaries, and a gang behind a spate of cashpoint raids.
The father-of-one, who had debts of £37,000 demanded up to £500 a time for sensitive intelligence about the locations of cannabis factories and cocaine stashes – which was then used by gangs to carry out raids on them at gunpoint.
Suspicions were aroused
He had also accessed the secret address of a terrified man who went into hiding after hoodlums swore vengeance on him over the accidental death of a 13-year old boy in a road accident. One raider, armed with a gun, told a victim he wanted the “crop”, adding: “Don’t be a d***head, you know what we’re after.
“Your house was getting raided in two days anyway as we’ve got people on the inside. We’ve got a copper who tips us off.”
In 2014, just before the start of the conspiracy, text messages revealed the extent of his money worries. He sent a friend a message on June 25 that year saying: “These pay freezes have hit me hard.”
Another message on July 28 said: “F****** s**t mate skint days after being paid [Ex-wife] is taking over the nursery fees so that’s an extra £240 a month next month no [overtime] it’s hard.” Detectives found multiple messages from banks and credit card companies alerting Cloney that bills had been unpaid.
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