HOW JAGGER ACCUSED DRUGS RAID POLICE OF CORRUPTION

MICK JAGGER accused the police of trying to plant cannabis at his home and
force him to pay a bribe after a raid in 1969.

The singer's allegation of police corruption came to light yesterday when
the National Archive -- normally more concerned with affairs of state than
rock stars -- released a confidential file which shows the frustration
among senior police that such a claim had to be investigated.

In their report on his allegation they could not resist a dig at what they
perceived to be his lack of credibility. One attacks him as "the dregs of
society". Another describes him as on the periphery, if not worse, of the
world of "dangerous drugs".

Of his then lover, Marianne Faithfull, police were even more scathing, and
derided her as an unreliable witness.

In police eyes he was already a known felon, having been convicted of
possessing cannabis in 1967 in a case that became a cause celebre when
first he was jailed for a year and then freed on appeal three days later
after a leading article in The Times headlined "Who Breaks a Butterfly on a
Wheel?".

Jagger had accused Detective Sergeant Robin Constable and other officers of
attempting to plant cannabis at the home he shared with Miss Faithfull in
Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, during a raid on May 28, 1969, and trying to force
him to pay a bribe.

He made the allegations at Marlborough Street Magistrates' Court on January
26, 1970, when facing a charge of cannabis possession.

Jagger was convicted, fined AUKP200, with 50 guineas costs but his
courtroom allegations gave him the satisfaction of forcing the Metropolitan
Police to carry out an internal investigation.

The Met was already facing claims of corruption, made in The Times in
November 1969, and the rock star's further allegation could only irritate.

In his statement Jagger suggested that during the raid Detective Sergeant
Constable had offered to allow him to escape a conviction if he would pay
AUKP1,000.

The singer said in his statement: "He said, 'How much is it worth to you?'
He seemed to want me to name a figure but I did not want to. The
conversation was being held in an undertone but not a whisper. He twice
asked me how much it was worth. He then said, 'A thousand. You can have the
money back if it doesn't work'."

He went on to accuse police of planting a lump of cannabis weighing half a
pound, later replacing it with a third of an ounce for the court case.

Two months after opening the corruption inquiry, Commander Robert Huntley,
who not only oversaw the investigation but was involved in the raid that
caused Jagger's fury, concluded that there was nothing to justify any of
his officers being charged. In his report, Mr Huntley said that those
questioned represent extreme ends of a scale. "At one end are public
figures while at the other are the dregs of society.

"It is interesting to note that those who purport to give first-hand
evidence in support of the allegations are at the lower end of the scale,
being drug users or trafficking in them."

Only grudgingly, it seems, does he allow his report to be forwarded to the
Director of Public Prosecutions.

Detective Chief Superintendent William Wilson, who led the inquiry, further
denigrated Jagger and Miss Faithfull in his own conclusions.

He pointed out that Jagger had two drugs convictions by the time of the
inquiry and wrote of him in March 1970: "Michael Jagger is an intelligent
young man, and doubtless is on the fringe, if not embroiled, in the world
of users of dangerous drugs." He noted that Miss Faithfull had a "history
of mental illness", that "I would not be prepared to place any reliance on
this woman," and that Christopher Gibb, the only other person in the house
other than police during the raid, had a conviction for theft despite
"coming from an excellent home".

In the event, the Director of Public Prosecutions agreed that it was
Jagger's word against the police and that no further action should be taken.

But Metropolitan Police papers reveal that Detective Sergeant Constable was
later removed from the team who were investigating the corruption
highlighted by The Times as a result of the complaint made by Jagger.

They Enjoyed The High Life, But It's All Over Now

Mick Jagger's conviction for cannabis possession affected neither his
career nor his drug use. The Stones put out 15 albums between 1969 and
1985, but some critics believe their quality was marred by drugs. Last year
his fortune was estimated at AUKP180 million. Marianne Faithfull, who split
from Jagger in 1969, developed a serious drug habit. She recorded three
albums in the 1970s, and her autobiography was published in 1994. She is
now on tour.