Police officers jailed for stealing £10,000

Two corrupt police officers have been jailed for stealing £10,000 they seized during a raid.

Detective constable Michael Stokes, 35, and former detective sergeant Stephen Phillips, 47, had both denied taking the money following a raid on a suspected drug dealer in Swansea.

Both men - who worked for South Wales Police's organised crime unit - were described during their trial at Cardiff Crown Court as "bad apples" of the police force.

The prosecution said Stokes had bragged to colleagues about taking money from someone they believed to be a drug dealer.

However, a court heard the owner of the seized cash never faced prosecution and was given his money back by police.

The owner - who said he kept £77,000 in a safe at his mum's house - later filed an official complaint after claiming a large chunk of his life savings had gone missing.

Today a jury found Stokes, of Glynneath, and Phillips, of Swansea, guilty of two counts of theft and were both jailed for two years.

Jurors had also been told that disgraced ex-sergeant Phillips was jailed last year after being caught stealing during an undercover operation. He was caught taking £240 during a police "integrity test".

Earlier during the trial, a third officer in the case - 38-year-old Philip Christopher Evans - was cleared of theft on the direction of Judge Rees.