UPDATE- Detective ‘stole’ drug-dealer’s £500k stash
A detective accused of making money by selling drugs stolen from police stores told a jury he discovered half a million pounds stashed at a house in Leeds.
Nicholas McFadden, 38, told Leeds Crown Court this week how he was in an unmarked police car in Harehills during February 2011 when he saw an Audi vehicle he believed to belong to a “high level drug-dealer.”
McFadden, formerly of Pasture Drive, Castleford, said he followed the man to a terraced house on the Chapeltown border and went inside, where the man took a swing at him and ran away.
The jury heard how Mc Fadden decided to search the house and allegedly found two holdalls containing bundles of cash in the crawl space of a bedroom.
His barrister, Alistair MacDonald QC, asked: “What was going through your mind when you saw the holdalls?”
McFadden replied: “It’s difficult to say. I just thought ‘wow’.
Mr MacDonald asked: “What did you decide to do with the money?”
“I stole it,” he replied.
The detective told the court he took the money, which he estimated to be around £500,000, and left the property – first driving to Roundhay Park to consider his actions, then to his Castleford home where he stored the cash in the garage.
The court heard earlier this week how McFadden had already been supplementing his income with a “flourishing” illegal business selling steroids, but began spending considerable amounts of money on home improvements, jewellery and clothes after finding the cash.
The prosecution claims McFadden made the money by selling heroin, cocaine, cannabis and amphetamine he stole while a constable with West Yorkshire Police’s Organised Crime Group.
McFadden denies four charges of theft and four of conspiracy to supply the drugs. He has admitted one charge of money laundering.
His brother Simon, 41, of Harehills, Leeds, denies four charges of conspiring to supply drugs and one of money laundering.
Proceeding.
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Wednesday 22 May 2013
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