`Supergrasses' aid corruption inquiry at Met

UP TO NINE serving and retired police officers are acting as "supergrasses" to inform on corrupt colleagues at Scotland Yard, it was revealed yesterday.

The huge scale of the corruption uncovered within the Metropolitan Police has resulted in up to 300 convictions being re-examined to discover whether innocent people have been jailed.

Forty police officers have so far been suspended - including detectives from a witness protection unit - and nine serving and former officers have been charged in connection with drugs and money allegations.

In the largest anti-corruption drive for decades, about nine serving or retired officers have become informants.

The bulk of the officers have come from the former South East Regional Crime Squad (SERCS), which investigated major criminals, and the Flying Squad, the unit that targets armed robbers.

Most of the so-called "supergrasses" have offered to inform on their colleagues in the hope of receiving more lenient sentences for their own wrongdoings.

Among the informants are two former Flying Squad officers, and one detective constable who was attached to the former SERCS, and was arrested in connection with illegal drug activities.

As more officers are prepared to turn "informer" - in one case a detective is understood to have named up to 30 fellow officers - the number of allegations of police corruption is expected to rise sharply during the next few months.

As the inquiry by the specialist anti-corruption units CIB2 and CIB3 widens, a growing number of officers are being suspended and charged in connection with offences - including drug dealing, taking bribes, robbery, tampering with eviden ce, and even helping out with contract killings. Corrupt officers have made hundreds of thousands of pounds from their illegal activities.

Six officers from the Special Witness Protection Unit have been suspended following allegations of "financial irregularities", along with 17 from the Flying Squad unit based at Rigg Approach in Walthamstow, east London, and four from the former South East Regional Crime Squad.

The most senior officer so far to be suspended is a detective chief inspector.

A woman official of the Crown Prosecution Service has also been arrested by the Yard's anti-corruption team over allegations involving the supplying of confidential information and sabotaging cases.

One consequence of the inquiries is the large number of previous cases that involved suspected "bent" officers that could be over-turned on appeal.

A special Miscarriages of Justice Unit at Scotland Yard in examining about 300 cases stretching back two decades. There are believed to be up to 10 men serving long jail sentences because crooked detectives planted evidence against them. Once officers start being convicted, dozens of convicted criminals are expected to appeal against their sentences.

The latest development in the anti-corruption investigations, revealed by senior police sources, follows a pledge by Sir Paul Condon, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, to stamp out wrong-doing by his officers.

Sir Paul has estimated that up to 250 of his 27,000-strong force are corrupt.

A police source said that corruption was a "way of life" for the core of the suspected officers - who are believe to total about 40.