Met officer jailed for stealing £1,500 in Stoke Newington

Bradley Francis, 35, resigned as a police constable after his theft from the safe at Stoke Newington police station on April 12 was uncovered.

He showed no reaction as Judge Martin Griffith, sentencing him at London’s Southwark Crown Court, told him that no officer should “consider themselves above the law”.

Francis had lost his career, marriage and home for a “ridiculous” theft at a time when his family would have stepped in to help him pay a credit card debt, the court heard.

Metropolitan Police officer Bradley Francis (right) arrives at Southwark Crown Court, London (Image: PA)

The judge also told him: “The public have to have confidence that the police will apply the law to themselves and not consider themselves above the law.

“The public should have absolute faith and trust in their police officers and that is quite right, I’m afraid you have let that down.”

Francis stood quietly in the dock as the judge told him: “It is a great shame you threw away the career you loved, your good character, your marriage and all that because you chose a ridiculous way out (of) your financial affairs.”

Francis, of Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, had pleaded guilty to theft. He has been jailed for 10 months.

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CCTV footage showed Francis spending a “rather long time” at the safe and covering his actions with a fleece before locking the safe and moving away from it, prosecutor Gregor McKinley said.

The cash was public money which was part of an ongoing intent-to-supply investigation.

He had put £50 into the safe but that had been just a “pretext” to enable him to get the keys and see what was inside, the prosecution said.

Within 30 minutes of the theft, Francis had paid off a £1,500 credit card bill.

The judge told Francis that his “pride” had stopped him from asking for help from his father, who was willing to find him work at the family firm when he gets out of jail.

Bradley Francis felt desperate to pay off a bill (Image: PA)

Francis, who has no previous convictions, was ordered to pay £1,500 compensation.

John Greany, defending, said that once Francis knew he was facing charges and possibly jail he realised “he was going to lose his job whatever he did and he had the decency to resign”.

He added: “This was a stupid and desperate act by an officer who was until then a very good one.”

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