Insp Keith Boots, who was responsible for disposing of seized drugs, had heroin and cocaine in his Bradford house, jury hears

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A police inspector responsible for disposing of seized drugs was found with an estimated £700,000 worth of heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis at his home, a trial has heard.

A jury at Leeds crown court was told that Insp Keith Boots, 55, was responsible for disposing of confiscated drugs for West Yorkshire police in Bradford but instead stole large quantities to supply to others.

When colleagues raided Boots’s Bradford home they found illegal drugs worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, including 11kg of cocaine in his washing machine, the court heard.

Paul Greaney QC, prosecuting, told the jury: “What was found on the ground floor would have kept a 1970s rock star, as well as his band, entertained for weeks.”

He said the drugs found in the house were estimated to be worth £700,000 by a police expert.

Greaney claimed that Boots, who had been a West Yorkshire police officer since 1990 and an inspector for more than 10 years, stole drugs from the stores he managed at Trafalgar House police station, in the centre of Bradford.

His home was searched in December 2014 after a colleague noticed a quantity of cocaine missing from the station store, the court heard.

“What Keith Boots had been doing is as simple as it is wicked,” Greaney said. “In a gross breach of trust, he had been exploiting weaknesses in the system for the destruction of controlled drugs in order to steal them.”

Boots went on trial on Wednesday with his son Ashley Boots. Keith Boots denies four counts of theft, six counts of possession of controlled drugs with intent to supply, one count of possessing ammunition, three counts of conspiracy to supply controlled drugs, one count of conspiracy to steal and one count of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Ashley Boots, 29, denies six counts of possession of controlled drugs with intent to supply, one count of possessing ammunition, three counts of conspiracy to supply controlled drugs, one count of conspiracy to steal and one count of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

The trial continues.