Officer denies £50 theft from wallet handed in at station

ASERVING police officer denies stealing £50 from a lost wallet that was handed in to him at the police station where he worked.

Stephen Davies, 38, has been charged with one count of theft in relation to the incident and is on trial at Cardiff Crown Court.

The Gwent Police officer appeared at the court yesterday for the first day of his trial, where he is accused of stealing £50 from the wallet of Thomas Dowden.

Opening the case, prosecutor John Hipkin said: “The allegation, in very short form, which the prosecution make against Stephen Davies is that as a serving police officer, he stole £50 from a wallet which had been handed in to him as lost.”

Mr Dowden, from Sheffield, visited Symonds Yat, in Herefordshire, on June 10 last year.

The court was told that on the evening he went to Ye Old Ferrie Inn and left at around 11.30pm but the next morning he realised his wallet, containing £50, was missing.

On that morning, jogger Andrew McGrath was out running and came across Mr Dowden’s wallet. He gave his details to the owner of Ye Old Ferrie Inn and that afternoon he went to Monmouth police station where he handed in the wallet to Davies, who was on duty at the time.

Later that day, Davies and a PCSO were tasked with booking in the wallet into the lost and found section of the station.

The court heard the PCSO was told by Davies that there had been no money in the wallet and it was booked in with no money inside it.

Mr Dowden contacted the pub on June 12 about his missing wallet and was directed to Mr McGrath who told him he had taken the wallet to Monmouth police station and that it contained £50.

But the prosecutor said that when Mr Dowden visited the station, he was handed his wallet and cards but the £50 wasn’t there. Mr Dowden made a complaint about this and it became a matter of investigation.

On June 14, the defendant withdrew £50 from an ATM in Monmouth and went to the police station. Mr Hipkin said: “He told a colleague he was looking for the money that had gone missing and that he didn’t want any help looking for it.

“A very short time later, he said he found it while looking at an area under the front of the desk.

“The Crown say having a complaint being made, the looking for and finding of the money was a sham.

“The defendant was trying to replace the stolen money which the Crown say wouldn’t have been the original notes but to replace it with notes he withdrew from the ATM.”

Davies attended a voluntary police interview later that month where he denied taking the money, claiming he made a note that the money was in the wallet, had pulled it out and placed it on the desk.

When asked about the money he withdrew from the ATM, he claimed he couldn’t remember how much he had taken out and the fact he had withdrawn £50 was just a coincidence.

Davies, of Churchwood, Griffithstown, Pontypool, denies the charge against him.

The trial continues.