By Former police officer who supplied drugs on the job charged
A former police officer kept drugs hidden in tubes of Pringles and in Lynx deodorant to conceal them and has been jailed for drug dealing.
Nabeel Khan, 25, served with South Yorkshire Police and was sent to Grimsby Crown Court for sentencing, admitting to supplying cannabis.
He was caught in possession of cannabis in an undercover operation by former colleagues.
Khan was jailed for two years by the judge who had choice words regarding the defendant in his judgement.
Reportedly while he was working for South Yorkshire Police, he set up deals in the back of a police car during training.
He also supplied and delivered during lockdown when the officer was meant to be preventing crime on the streets of Barnsley, said prosecutor Jeremy Evans.
He said the drug dealing went on from March 2020 to February last year when the officer went under the nickname “Nando.”
Mr. Evans said the officer came under the suspicion of colleagues in South Yorkshire Police who formed an operation and trailed his BMW and his Toyota cars while he was out supplying the drugs.
Cannabis with an estimated street value of £435 was found hidden inside the two vehicles belonging to Khan, along with cash and mobile phones.
At the time, Khan was suspended for carrying out unauthorised police national computer (PNC) checks.
Mr. Evans said the officer was dealing drugs while employed as an officer but said he had not abused his position as an officer.
He also said his customers would not have known he was a serving police officer.
The court was told his customers were regularly sent messages offering ‘loyalty incentives’ over 10 months.
He was arrested on February 24 last year when a female customer was in his car in Sheffield. His mobile phones were seized and police traced cannabis to the hollowed-out base of Pringle pots and Lynx deodorant.
“He is seeking to increase sales and profits. In the notes on the phone there is a list of names involved in the supply, the ounces, and who owed money,” said Mr. Evans.
He added: “The phones also had video images of the defendant surrounded by drug paraphernalia and of him smoking cannabis himself and in the presence of others.”
He said Khan played a significant role and made significant financial gain for the supply, however, he said it was an abuse of a position of trust and responsibility but the defendant had not used his position to sell drugs.
Mr. Evans said: “Police officers are placed in a position of trust and it is a role that demands honesty and integrity to serve and protect the public. He chose not to.”
The following search of police premises by the force’s counter-corruption team found a further quantity of cannabis, containers with concealed compartments, bank cards, and mobile phones.
Judge Michael Fanning said: “This is a tragedy of your own making.” He received references from family members who described his “fine and responsible character.”
The judge added: “Your wrong-doing has wider repercussions.” He said colleagues in South Yorkshire Police put him under surveillance.
Evidence showed he was dealing between March 2020 and February last year.
“You were a real salesman, offering incentives and bulk discounts. You put your head in the lion’s mouth. You were meant to be protecting the public but you were propping up a criminal enterprise. You stupidly told your dealer you were a police officer and that then led to pressure to deal in drugs. But you could have chosen to refuse. You should have told your senior officers,” said the judge.
“Off-duty Police officers say they can never turn a blind eye to crime. It was your choice not to do your job. You put yourself ahead of your obligations to your colleagues and your duty to the public,” he added.
“It is you who has harmed them. There is the length of time that these offences went on for and the impact on the reputation of the police,” said Judge Fanning.
“Trust in the police is being undermined by the rotten few. Tens of thousands of police officers run into situations where most people are running away and they must be holding their heads in their hands when someone like you brings shame to them. It is rotten ones like you that bring that.
“Police officers that choose to become criminals must know they will go to prison. The lot of a police officer in prison is an uncomfortable one. That is something the authorities will deal with.”
Sentencing Khan to two years in prison, he added: “You set out to serve the community – you have let it down.”
South Yorkshire’s Deputy Chief Constable Tim Forber said: “Nabeel Khan was a corrupt officer who abused the trust and confidence placed in him as a police officer to deal drugs on our city’s streets and has no place in policing. I’m sorry that he ever found a place here.”
