Police caught stealing from ‘crime scene’ face jail term

TWO policemen are facing jail after being caught stealing in a sting operation at a fake ‘crime scene’.

Detective Sergeant Stephen Phillips and Detective Constable Jason Evans were filmed taking cash and biros planted in the sting house.

A court yesterday heard how Phillips, 45, was caught taking £250 when he was called to the house – not realising it was a set-up.

Evans, 44, was also filmed pocketing two pens. The court heard the officers t hought t hey were investigating a burglar but were set up as part of a ‘trust exercise’ by suspicious police chiefs.

The officers were sent to a house which contained quantities of Viagra, mobile phones, watches and £21,647 in cash.

But they didn’t realise the property had been fitted with hidden cameras and microphones – and the woman posing as a crime victim was an undercover detective.

The pair, who are suspended by South Wales Police, were yesterday warned they faced custody after admitting theft.

Judge Bodfan Jenkins told them: ‘It’s not about the cost, it’s about the breach of trust and at first blush it appears to me that this is a custody case.”

Phillips, of Neath, claimed he was going to return the money. Evans, also of Neath, admitted stealing the pens. The pair both pleaded guilty at Cardiff magistrates’ court.