Police detective sacked after his girlfriend videotaped him preparing to snort cocaine and sent it to his bosses

Gareth Bassett admitted taking cocaine after a hair sample had drug traces



His girlfriend passed the tape to Dyfed-Powys anti-corruption unit



Swansea Crown Court heard he has 'paid a high price for his indiscretion'



Defence: 'It is a mark of her character' that the girlfriend filmed the session



Former detective Gareth Bassett was sacked after his girlfriend filmed him preparing to snort cocaine and sent the video to anti-corruption officers

A long-serving police detective has lost his career and marriage after a woman he was having an affair with filmed him preparing to snort cocaine and sent it to his force’s anti-corruption unit.



Swansea Crown Court heard Gareth Vaughan Bassett, 45, of Llwynhendy, Llanelli, was sacked as a detective sergeant with Dyfed Powys Police after he admitted a single charge of possessing cocaine last August.



Bassett, who the court heard is now living on income support, admitted the charge at Swansea Crown Court. He initially denied the offence claiming he thought the drug was a 'legal high' and asked for hair samples to be taken.

Matthew Cobbe, prosecuting, said hair samples were subsequently sent to a French laboratory and the results showed a low level of drug use in the previous four weeks.



Mr Cobbe told the court a series of text messages on August 1, 2013 showed Bassett urged his girlfriend to buy drugs for them to use together the following weekend.



The prosecutor said the defendant claimed it was merely a 'test' because he knew his girlfriend had been a drug user and he suspected she was using illegal drugs once again but he said the defendant was effectively 'blaming' her for his possession of the drug.

As well as losing his job and the majority of his pension, Bassett's marriage ended in divorce.



James Hartson, for Bassett, said: 'This is a man who for 25 years has served his community well without a blemish on his career.'

He added: 'He has lost a substantial amount of pension rights along with his good name and for an experienced police officer in his late forties that is highly regrettable.



'He is now in receipt of income support as a result of his dismissal from the police force.



'He became involved in an extra-marital relationship with someone who was a user of cocaine, it’s a mark of her character that she recorded what happened and played it to his employers.



'He has paid a very high price for an indiscretion. It was a moment of madness.'

The court did not hear the reason why the un-named woman filmed Bassett and decided to approach anti-corruption police with the video.



Swansea Crown Court, pictured, heard that Bassett 'has paid a very high price for an indiscretion'

Mr Hartson said the reading from the former detective sergeant’s hair sample was 0.39mgs, the accepted amount for a positive reading being 0.5mgs, but he said: 'He has accepted the inevitable, that at a crown court trial he would have been convicted.'



Mr Hartson said the length of time it took his client to plead guilty to the offence was due to the fact he wanted to seek detailed legal advice on whether the video evidence would be admissible in court and he had to wait for the hair sample analaysis.

