A sacked Merseyside police officer accused of selling sensitive intelligence to a “major” cocaine dealer says payments into his accounts came from selling Liverpool FC tickets.
Ex-PC Barry Parkinson, 45, is accused of selling police information to underworld associates to keep them “one step ahead”.
The dad-of-two is also accused of passing on the addresses of suspected cannabis farms to criminals as part of a conspiracy to break in and steal the drugs.
He denies misconduct in a public office, conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to supply cannabis between January 1 and June 27, 2014.
Parkinson, of Beechburn Crescent, Page Moss , denied any knowledge of a conspiracy at Liverpool Crown Court .
Under questioning by Trevor Parry-Jones, defending, he said his links to Robert Gerrard Sloan, 44 – who prosecutors say “dealt cocaine by the kilo” – were actually due to their shared love of watching LFC.
He told the court he has known Sloan since he was a child and they became good friends in around 2002 and went to many away games together.
He said at one point he had to inform police of their friendship after another pal they were with was arrested for a public order offence at an away match in Reading.
Parkinson said he was a season ticket holder who has only missed two games at Anfield since 1984 due to his honeymoon and an operation.
He told the jury he got “lots of tickets” for games through friends with contacts at the club, some of which he sold at face value.
But the court heard he sold others for hundreds of pounds including to fans in Scandinavia.
Parkinson said: “I’ve always been known as someone who could get tickets. I’ve sold tickets to probably half of the bosses who work at Admiral Street police station.”
He said these officers would probably not “back him up”, but on Friday afternoons at work he would receive multiple texts and calls about trading tickets.
The defendant said: “I’m very well known, a lot of people know me from the football and obviously with my job people saw me as a trustworthy person.”
He said he had a friend called Ian Kelly who ran a sports company in Norway selling tickets and would regularly receive payments between £100 and £1,200 from him.
Parkinson said another friend called Tony Shields, who had contacts at Anfield and was good friends with former Reds striker Robbie Fowler, would also give him tickets to sell.
The Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts, Liverpool Crown Court. File picture. Photo by Ian Cooper
He said: “He would pass me the tickets and say see if you can spin them and we will get a drink out of them.”
Parkinson worked in the police for more than 18 years, first in Manchester and then in Merseyside from 2003.
He was fired in May this year after pleading guilty to two counts of misconduct in a public office.
He was a Field Intelligence Development Officer (FIDO) in Liverpool South Basic Command Unit from 2006 to 2014.
Prosecutors say he was plagued with debt and borrowed £30,000 from his sister-in-law in July 2013.
He also admitted borrowing £15,000 from his brother to help pay off two credit cards and other loans, including one run-up by one of his daughters, but denied having significant debts.
He said: “To me I was just like a normal person, I had some debts, I had some loans.
“I still went to the football every week, went out for some drinks and something to eat with my wife, my friends and family.
“I enjoyed a good social life to be honest.”
Sloan, of Steeple View Kirkby ; David Gould, 52, of Grange Avenue, West Derby ; and Shaun Blackburn, 30, of Kenbury Road, Kirkby; all deny conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to supply cannabis.
Sloan has pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office.
David Nuttall, 44, of Bonnington Close, St Helens , denies conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office.
He has already pleaded guilty to production of cannabis and abstracting electricity.
(Proceeding)
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/