POLICEMAN 'PLANTED DRUGS ON COLLEAGUE'

A POLICE officer planted cannabis resin in the desk of a colleague
because he was jealous of his promotion prospects, a court has heard.

Stuart Hayward-Rutter, 46, of Wenhaston, near Halesworth, is accused
of placing cannabis in a desk drawer belonging to Detective Constable
Mark Beresford at Leiston Police Station and falsifying a memo about
the drug to the force's complaints and discipline department.

Both incidents are alleged to have happened between August 12 and
August 16, 1999, a jury at Norwich Crown Court was told yesterday.

Det Con Beresford was suspended for two months while an investigation
took place into the allegation outlined in the memo - that he used the
cannabis to entice criminals he charged to become informants.

Hayward-Rutter, who is no longer employed by Suffolk police, was a
detective constable working alongside Mr Beresford at Leiston before
transferring to the Special Branch office at the force's Martlesham
Heath headquarters, when the offence is alleged to have taken place.
He denies attempting to pervert the course of justice by planting the
cannabis.

Stephen Harvey, prosecuting, told the court that Hayward-Rutter was
jealous that Det Con Beresford had been made acting sergeant and
clearly disliked being overshadowed by him.

Mr Harvey said that the memo outlining the allegations against Det Con
Beresford had originated from the Special Branch office.

"This is an office with extremely strict security measures so that
only Special Branch officers can enter," he said.

Giving evidence, Det Con Beresford said that he and Hayward-Rutter had
a good working relationship at first, but it had later
deteriorated.

He said that the atmosphere between the two officers was "tense" and
they avoided speaking to each other whenever Hayward-Rutter visited
Leiston after transferring to Special Branch.

Det Con Beresford said he thought it was a joke when he was first
accused of having the cannabis in his desk drawer but was shocked to
be suspended from duty.

"A few days after my suspension I got a telephone call at my home from
Hayward-Rutter that sent a shiver down my neck," he said.

"He wanted to discuss my suspension and the drugs allegation and that
intrigued me because of what had gone on before."

Det Con Beresford said that during their conversation Hayward-Rutter
"had a smile on his lips" and he reported his suspicions about him to
Detective Sergeant Jim Keeble, of Leiston CID, who had also been
implicated in the "memo" as he had been accused of turning a blind eye
to what was going on.

Detective Chief Inspector Elizabeth Pettman, of the complaints and
discipline department of Suffolk police, told the court she had found
the memo on her desk on Monday, August 16, 1999, but had no idea how
it got there.

Later that day, she went to Leiston Police Station with other officers
and discovered the cannabis resin in the drawer belonging to Det Con
Beresford.

The memo containing the allegations had been signed by another Leiston
police officer but, when he was shown it, the officer said he had not
sent it and it was not his signature.

Ms Pettman, now a superintendent, said an investigation into the
allegations and the memo itself was carried out but on September 30,
1999, the case was sent to a senior officer to review as there was no
evidence of who was responsible for sending it.

Det Con Beresford's suspension was then lifted and he returned to
work.

Under cross-examination from Robin Sellers, defending, Supt Pettman
admitted there had been "long periods of inactivity" before
Hayward-Rutter was charged with the offence in 2005.

The case continues today.
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