Keith Boots, 55, was responsible for disposing of seized drugs for West Yorkshire Police but took the narcotics home instead of destroying them.
A crooked police inspector who was found with £750,000 of seized drugs at his home has been jailed for 26 years and told he is a “disgrace to the uniform.” Keith Boots, 55, was responsible for disposing of seized drugs for West Yorkshire Police. But instead of making sure the drugs were destroyed - the officer took them home and gave them to his son to put back on the streets. West Yorkshire Police said they welcomed the long sentence given to Boots, who had worked for them for 20 years, describing him as an “embarrassment” to the force. Leeds Crown Court heard he was seen taking cocaine from a storeroom prompting acton When officers raided his home they found enough drugs to keep "a 1970s rock star, and his band, entertained for weeks'. The fire place, washing machine and fridge were stuffed full of drugs including heroin, cannabis and ecstasy, crack cocaine. The jury heard how Boots conspired with his son Ashley Boots, who was jailed for 24 years, to steal the drugs from the force and he would then sell them on to his criminal contacts. Judge Geoffrey Marson QC said “trusted” inspector Keith and his son had stolen the drugs in order to put them back on to the streets of West Yorkshire for their own financial gain. Judge Marson said: "One of the consequences of a senior police officer turning to crime is it undermines confidence in the police service. "It's a betrayal of those decent, honest officers who work diligently in order to detect crime.
"Sadly, the only conclusion I can draw is your behaviour has been thoroughly dishonest and manipulative. You are a disgrace to the uniform you once wore."
A jury were told at his trial that when fellow officers raided the home on December 2014 they found a “warehouse” of drugs. Boots had signed off that cocaine and other drugs held in store three miles away from his home at Trafalgar House police station in Bradford had been disposed of. But Paul Greaney QC prosecuting said: “What Keith Boots had been doing is as simple as it is wicked. In gross breach of trust, he had been exploiting weaknesses in the system for the destruction of controlled drugs in order to steal them.”
When officers raided his home they found Keith Boots in his dressing gown with drugs and ammunition hidden in his home.Mr Greaney told the jury: “What was found on the ground floor would have kept a 1970s rock star and his band, entertained for weeks”.
Detective Superintendent Simon Bottomley of West Yorkshire Police's Professional Standards Department, said after he was jailed: "Keith Boots belongs in jail. "He is a criminal who pretended to uphold the values expected of a police officer but in reality fell a very long way short of the high standards expected with the uniform. He is an embarrassment to Force employees who day in day out work tirelessly to keep the people of West Yorkshire safe. Boots' colleagues were taking drugs off of the streets whilst he was looking to put them back out there.”
Keith Boots, 55 of Norman Lane, Bradford was found convicted of 16 charges including the theft of drugs from West Yorkshire Police, possession with intent to supply drugs and conspiring to pervert the course of justice. His son Ashley Boots, 30 of Heatherhouse Terrace, Pellon, Halifax admitted seven counts of possession with intent to supply drugs and one count of possession of a quantity of ammunition without certification. A third man, Ian Mitchell, 28, of no fixed address, was found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. He was sentenced to five years.
