NEWS > 16 January 2007

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ic Teesside.co.uk - Middlesbro
16 January 2007

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Corrupt officer jailed for six

Corrupt policeman Jason Singh was jailed for six years yesterday for masterminding raids on cash machines to fund his cocaine habit.

The disgraced Northumbria Police officer was the ringleader of a gang, including his younger brother Craig, who targeted ATMs and stole more than �13,000.

The 23-year-old, who was on Newcastle United's books as a teenager, further abused his position when he accessed confidential information in a bid to steal �30,000 from a mentally ill woman.

Singh, of Dunston, Gateshead, was jailed after Newcastle Crown Court heard he had resorted to crime to pay for his spiralling drug problems - which had left him nearly �30,000 in debt.

Judge Esmond Faulks, sentencing, said Singh had "tarnished" the integrity and honesty of the police.

He then sentenced his five accomplices to a total of 13 years imprisonment.

The gang were caught following a complex undercover operation by the Integrity Unit of Northumbria Police, after officers became suspicious of the company that bodybuilder Singh was keeping.

They hid listening devices in his car and heard the gang discussing potential targets, plans to obtain professional tools and plotting raids.

On the night of November 15, the gang used power tools to break into the Total garage in Clockmill Road, Dunston, Gateshead, escaping with �13,500 and causing �14,000 worth of damage. They then carried out a botched raid at a petrol station in Derwenthaugh Road on December 28, but were forced to flee without any cash after being disturbed.

The following night they tried to repeat their theft from the first garage, but officers who had been tracking the gang were lying in wait.

Singh appeared in court with his brother Craig, of Ryde Terrace, Dunston; Mark McDonald, 26, of Chelsea Gardens, Deckham; Shane Faife, 25, of Curzon Street, Bensham; Justin Brown, 28, of Fernlough, Windy Nook, all Gateshead; and Peter Chisholm, 27, of Deerbush, West Denton in Newcastle.

They all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal on the day their trial was due to begin.

Jason Singh, Brown and McDonald also admitted conspiracy to steal the savings of a vulnerable woman, which had been given to police for safe-keeping.

Tony Hawks, defending Singh, said his life had hit `rock bottom' and had turned to drink and cocaine after being released by Newcastle United just before his 18th birthday.

But the sports-mad youngster was helped by his father, who persuaded him to apply for the police service.

However, after just four years as an officer, based at South Shields, he found he was struggling to cope.

Mr Hawks said: "He couldn't do his job properly and he fell back into his life mixing with the wrong people and taking drugs.

"His cocaine habit spiralled out of control and by the time of the offences, he was taking about �600 a week."

The court heard how Singh had plotted the raids and even discussed stealing a digger to break into a bank, before roping his younger brother Craig in as a look-out. Craig was sent to a young offender institute for 12 months, while Faife and Chisholm were both given two-year sentences.

Brown was imprisoned for three-and-a-half-years and Mark McDonald, who was also sentenced for a burglary at a Ladbrokes Betting Shop in Gateshead, was given four-and-a-half years.

Both Brown and McDonald had received lengthy custodial sentences for armed robbery in 1998, while juveniles.

The Singh brothers were the only members of the gang with no previous convictions.

Joseph McDonald, of Colegate, Leam Lane, Gateshead, is due to be sentenced on Friday.

Rare case, says force

Northumbria Police moved to reassure the public yesterday after one of their own officers was imprisoned for organising serious crime.

Deputy Chief Constable David Warcup yesterday said he was "very satisfied" with the six-year sentence handed down to former policeman Jason Singh. He emphasised how unusual it was for officers to abuse their position.

He said: "It is extremely rare for a police officer to become involved in offences as serious as this.

"I want to reassure the public that Northumbria Police expects and demands the highest ethical principles and professionalism from everyone who works for us.

"Where anyone is discovered to be acting in a way which is less than honest or in a way which may harm the excellent reputation we have earned, we will take a very robust line.

"The Integrity Unit of our Professional Standards Department has a specific mandate to identify and root out corruption, dishonesty and other unethical behaviour in the force, and has been very successful in carrying that out."

Passing sentence, Judge Esmond Faulks said former Newcastle United trainee Singh had "tarnished" the reputation of the police, abusing his position of trust with the force while letting his family and the general public down.

He said: "You were at the time a serving police officer. The public is entitled to expect the highest standards of its police officers.

"You have let everybody down, not just yourself and your family, but the general public and the police, whose reputation for integrity and honesty you have tarnished."

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Article sourced from

ic Teesside.co.uk - Middlesbro16 January 2007

Corrupt officer jailed for six

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ic Teesside.co.uk - Middlesbro
16 January 2007