Police corruption 'risked lives'

Information on the Marian Bates case was leaked

For corrupt former trainee detective Charles Fletcher, the information he passed on bought him a wardrobe full of designer clothes.

But the tips he gave suspected criminals in Nottinghamshire led to him being jailed for seven years - and may have put dozens of his fellow police officers in grave danger.

Pcs Charles Fletcher, 25, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office at Birmingham Crown Court.

Fletcher admitted passing on top secret information on different cases, including the inquiry into murdered jeweller Marian Bates, who was shot dead in her shop in Arnold in 2003.

You are running the risk of those officers being murdered Mick Taylor, Notts Police Federation

But this case has caused waves of insecurity in a force that has been fighting hard to regain its reputation.

After a series of high-profile murders, including the drive-by shooting of teenager Danielle Beccan and the killing of Mrs Bates, Nottinghamshire Police struggled to improve their success rates with unsolved crimes.

The court heard Fletcher gave information to a contact at a designer clothes shop where he used to work.

In return, the Pc was given discounts on the smart clothes he longed to own.

Mick Taylor, Nottinghamshire Police Federation's chairman, said the corruption case had major implications for the force.

"My understanding is that Mr Fletcher gave information to certain figures within the criminal fraternity as to what police action was being taken against them and what police tactics were being used to bring them to justice.

'Hiding to nothing'

"He is then putting his colleagues in extreme danger because the criminals will be on the lookout for those officers (undercover or on surveillance operations) and will stop short of no level of violence to prevent themselves being arrested or locked up.

"You are running the risk of those officers being murdered," said Mr Taylor.

He added police forces are run on trust and the "ability to rely on your colleagues to stand next to you."

"If you give the trust away, then you're on a hiding to nothing," he said.

"As to why Mr Fletcher joined the police service, what may have been in his heart and his intentions at the time, only he can say."

'Not compromised'

Speaking to BBC News after the corruption case, Victor Bates, husband of Marian Bates, expressed his concern that the police may have been following false leads in the search for his wife's killers.

He said: "Criminals who get inside information will put it to good use because it leads to all sorts of ways of covering your tracks if you know what the police are looking for.

"On a sunny afternoon, for two men to come off a crowded shopping street and shoot a defenceless, beautiful 64-year-old woman, walk out of the shop and get away with it entirely, the thought that could happen in Nottingham was devastating."

But police sources have told the BBC that murder investigations - including the Marian Bates case - were not compromised by what Fletcher did.