Crooked detective jailed for selling cocaine from police stores made to pay back £75k

Andrew Talbot, 55, formerly a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) detective constable, was investigated after he dropped a bag of the drug outside his daughter's primary school in February 2020.

Talbot, a cocaine addict, had stolen just under 4kg of the drug and conspired with convicted dealer Keith Bretherton to sell it, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

Sentencing him in October 2024, Judge Neil Flewitt KC said: "You deceived your colleagues and you betrayed the trust placed in you by them and the community."

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The court heard the drugs had an estimated wholesale value of £140,000 and a retail value of £394,500.

At a proceeds of crime hearing at the same court on Monday, it was heard that Talbot benefited from £179,372, GMP said.

Talbot has been ordered to pay back £75,420 within three months or face two extra years in prison, the force added.

Detective Inspector John Andrew of GMP said: "Talbot is already paying for his crimes by losing his livelihood and his liberty, and now he must financially pay for his crimes.

"This outcome shows in the strongest terms possible that any officer guilty of corruption will be fully brought to justice and will not be allowed to gain at the expense of colleagues and the public."

Helen Hughes of the Crown Prosecution Service said: "The public expects police officers to obey the law. Andrew Talbot comprehensively abused his position as a police detective.

"He stole drugs from Greater Manchester Police's property store, which he brazenly supplied on the streets of the same city he had a duty to protect. It is right that he should not benefit as a result."