TWO police officers have gone on trial accused of misconduct in public office after they allegedly dumped drugs they seized in an arrest.
Constables Neil Campbell and Michael Campfield are jointly accused of misconduct in public office for an incident alleged to have occurred between November 21 and 24.
They are accused of having "failed to retain evidence and failed to record or provide relevant information when you had a duty to do so".
A Newry Crown Court jury heard that according to the prosecution case, the pair seized a bag of around 50 blue tablets when they arrested a burglary suspect in a Salvation Army Hostel in Belfast but dumped them in a bin in the custody suite at Musgrave police station without making any record of the seizure.
Crown counsel James Johnston told the jury that because the bag of loose blue tablets was never recovered, "we cannot prove they were illegal", but that was not an issue for the jury to consider.
"They deliberately...dumped them in the bin while waiting to present the person to the custody sergeant," he said, adding the pair "made a decision to do that earlier and they deliberately chose not to create a record".
He said their actions were a "wilful neglect of duty and wilful misconduct of the public trust".
The court heard the officers had shown a staff member at the Belfast hostel the clear plastic bag.
The worker was said to have suggested the pills might be diazepam and she recorded it in the hostel's computer system.
Mr Johnston said while the officers and the suspect were in the custody suite, there was cctv footage which shows how "Const. Campbell moved away and although you won’t see it, it’s the prosecution case that he dumped the bag into the bin just a short time before the custody sergeant was ready to deal with them".
Mr Johnston said apart from their duties as officers, recording the seizure of the tablets would have been important as that may have affected what steps were taken in the custody suite to keep the prisoner safe.
The alleged offences were uncovered the following day when the hostel refused to accept the suspect back, disclosing to another officer that the reason was the previous day's drug seizure.
The trial continues, and is et to last into next week.
