Ex-Met Police officer probed after £500k of watches and jewellery stolen from station

Around 20 watches and 50 rings went missing from a unafraid grounds retention country astatine the aforesaid presumption wherever PC Wayne Couzens was erstwhile based implicit a 3 twelvemonth period

A erstwhile Metropolitan Police officer is being investigated implicit the theft of £500,000 worthy of watches and jewellery from a constabulary station.

The antheral was a serving PC when the items went missing from a unafraid grounds retention country implicit a three-year period. Some 20 watches and 50 rings were stolen from the presumption wherever slayer PC Wayne Couzens was erstwhile based.

Anti-corruption detectives are said to person grounds the watches were sold connected to dealers, with the fishy PC receiving “large sums of money”. All the items belonged to a Hatton Garden jeweller arrested by the PC connected suspicion of handling stolen goods successful May 2020.

The serviceman is thought to person been capable to cheque them retired of the grounds retention area. A root said the jeweller, who was aboriginal cleared, recovered his banal had gone erstwhile helium went to cod it. He is present suing the Met implicit the theft successful Bromley, South East London.

The ex-PC has been interviewed but not arrested. He was antecedently convicted of abstracted charges that cannot beryllium reported and faced a misconduct proceeding earlier being dismissed successful 2023.

The Met said it is reviewing procedures for storing evidence. It added: “A antheral successful his 40s was interviewed aft watches went missing successful our possession. It would beryllium inappropriate to remark further.”