Bent cop gambled with money taken from suspects

A bent cop who stole £4,000 from a dead man and claimed his son was critically ill to get more than two months off work has been jailed for two years.

PC Robert Ward, 36, also grabbed £10,000 of money seized from suspects by forging his colleague’s signatures and spent thousands of it gambling online.

Ward sobbed in the dock as he was sentenced for stealing a total of £13,625 – including two cheques for £4,000 from a 70 year old man called Peter Jones who had died just days before.

Southwark Crown Court was told how the shamed officer also lied about his son being critically ill at Great Ormond Street hospital to get 76 days off.

On one occasion he told his superiors that he needed to fly his son to the US for emergency treatment.

In fact, he was on a two week holiday in Paxos.

Prosecutor Richard Hearnden said: ‘It all started on the 4th of May last year when the Metropolitan Police Professional Standards Department were told that some money had gone missing from the Edmonton police safe.

‘A suspect had £35,000 taken from him – it was placed in a sealed evidence bag and that evidence bag was put in the safe.’

Mr Hearnden explained how the officer in that case had taken the money to a local bank branch to safely deposit it, as is standard procedure.

‘The cashier counted the money, it was £8,150 short.’

‘The detective took a look at the evidence bag and realised that it had been tampered with.

‘It had been put in a new exhibit bag with a new seal but there was then an attempt to forge the exhibit labels, to fill them in as if it were the same bag.’

The prosecutor explained that officers forensically inspected the bag and found Ward’s
fingerprints on the new exhibit container.

They also analysed the writing and found that it matched that found in one of the officer’s old notebooks.

‘This information then caused officers to look at other instances where money had gone missing,’ Mr Hearnden explained.

He told the court how officers had found that exactly the same process had been carried out four months before when £415 had gone missing from £2,000 in seized cash.

When officers searched Ward’s station locker, they found a tin and a damaged evidence bag that had contained £1,060, which had previously been reported missing.

‘He was never involved in the case, as far the £1,060 was concerned, and therefore he had no lawful reason for being in possession of that property,’ concluded the prosecutor.

‘As a result of money having gone missing, police were not able to pursue a cash forfeiture application. Therefore the defendant’s activities have had an effect on the course of justice.

‘Arguably the most serious of these incidents is that a cheque for £4,000 was put into has account from a Santander bank account belonging to the late Peter Jones,’ said Mr Hearnden.

He explained that Ward had deposited two cheques for £4,000 into his account from Peter Jones, the first had gone through but the second was flagged and stopped by the bank.

‘He was a man aged in his early seventies. Enquiries by the police found that Peter Jones had died at home.

‘The day after he died, police officers attended his home address, including PC Ward. Property had been taken for safe keeping from Mr Jones’ address and had been booked into Edmonton police station.’

The prosecutor explained that when police searched Ward’s home, they found a Santander bank card belonging to Mr Jones as well as a photograph of his signature on his phone.

‘The executor of his will said that he gave Mr Jones’ cheque book to the police. Whilst on duty, the defendant had stolen the cheque book and had filled them in for his own benefit.’

The court was also told how Ward had claimed his two year old son was undergoing
life-saving surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital in order to get time off at work.

Ward told his bosses that his son was in a medically induced coma, suffering from a bleeding stomach, had meningitis and required a lung transplant.

He told them that the child required round the clock support and supervision.

Both Great Ormond Street Hospital and Ward’s wife, who is continuing to support him, confirmed that the child is entirely fit and healthy and had never attended the specialist children’s’ hospital.

The disgraced police officer claimed a total of 76 days paid sick leave, which the Met valued at around £4,000.

In August 2016, explained the prosecutor: ‘He asked for emergency leave to fly his son to the US for live saving treatment.’

In reality, he had taken a two week holiday on the Mediterranean island of Paxos.

Following his arrest, police examined his bank records and found that many of his 76 days of compassionate leave had been spent buying rounds at the Hamilton Hall, a Wetherspoons pub in Liverpool Street, London, and shopping trips.

Mr Hearnden explained that the police officer had a gambling addiction and that he had spent at least £3,000 online, ‘that is almost certainly the tip of the iceberg,’ he suggested.

‘He has been suspended on full pay and will face a disciplinary hearing soon.’

Ward was interviewed by police in October 2017, his solicitor attended along with a representative from the Police Federation. He gave a ‘no comment’ interview.

Kevin Baumber, defending said: ‘There were not scores of hundreds of transactions, the actions were opportunistic and bound to fail.

‘One wonders what he was thinking.’

He explained that Ward suffered from a gambling addiction which stemmed from his diabetes and depression.

Mr Baumber said Ward’s third daughter had been born on the day he pleaded guilty at Westminster magistrates’ court.

‘He missed the birth to admit his guilt,’ the defence counsel explained.

Mr Baumber told the court that Ward suffered from ‘acute depression’ due to a condition called ‘diabetic burn out.’

He explained that the defendant suffered from PTSD after, ‘members of the public he was helping died in his arms.

‘One was a girl who was dying as a result of a road traffic accident and the other was a stabbing.’

The pressure of the job led him to online betting sites: ‘His gambling problems and the gambling debts grew and grew. He has black listed himself from every online gambling site.

‘The money that he stole was used to service these debts. This was not a case of lavish lifestyle – yes, he went on holiday with his family but that was about it.’

The defence counsel told how Ward used his son’s fictitious illnesses to take time off work when his depression became too much.

‘He found a way – a dishonest way – to get time off work when he couldn’t face it.’

Mr Baumber also explained that Ward’s wife now has full control of the family finances.

‘The sale of the family home appears inevitable,’ he added.

In a letter to the judge, Ward said he was, ‘truly sorry for his actions,’ and that he was ‘mortified and disgusted.’

A letter from his wife said: ‘He cries every day and is regretful for his actions.’

Judge Margia Mostafa told Ward: ‘There must have been some loss of confidence in the criminal justice system because of a theft by a serving police officer.

‘I am told that you had a gambling addiction which you had since 2015. You also had a commendation for professionalism and bravery leading to the arrest and charge of four men for robbery.

‘It is a great shame when a police officer who is there to uphold the law and is supposed to be a role model in the criminal justice system decides to take his own course and enter into criminal behaviour.

‘Your actions not only meant the ruining of your career and home life but it also mean that there were police operations that were not able to proceed.

‘You are unlikely to have any job involving any form of responsibility again.

‘As a police officer, you do have a high degree of trust and responsibility that you breached.’

In 2009, Ward caused controversy by posting on Facebook that he couldn’t: ‘wait to bash some long haired hippys up @ the G20.’ [sic]

This was just hours after Ian Tomlinson, 47, died after being beaten by fellow Metropolitan Police officers.

Ward was investigated but remained in his job.

Robert Ward, of Waltham Abbey, Essex, admitted three counts of fraud, two counts of theft by employee and one count of theft.

He was sentenced to a total of two years years in prison, one year for the thefts to be served consecutively with another year for the frauds.

Ward was also ordered to repay £4,000 to the estate of Peter Jones and £2,000 to the Metropolitan Police for illegitimate sick pay.

He will face a dismissal hearing from the Metropolitan Police Service on 19 September when he will be thrown out of the force.

ends