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A police officer breaks down in tears after being arrested on suspicion of blackmail as part of an investigation to weed out corrupt cops.

DC Gareth Suffling is led away in handcuffs after he was found to have accessed a blackmail victim’s details on his police computer to find out his address before the victim reported he was being blackmailed.

Channel 4 documentary 24 Hours In Police Custody will look at how officers snare corrupt officers.

The case involves a married man who is sent a letter threatening to tell his family he had received oral sex from a sex worker unless he pays the blackmailer £1000. The letter also contained photos of the man visiting the sex worker.




Detective Chief Inspector Jerry Waite and DS Mark Devine are on the case at Luton CID, and the police decide to use the victim’s own money to set up a meet in order to get their suspect.

A surveillance team monitors the meet from a nearby location but the money is never picked up.

DCI Jerry Waite is leading the case (Picture: Channel 4)

The prostitute, Kirie is brought in for questioning along with her business partner and they are stunned to hear about the blackmail. She insists has no knowledge of it because ‘I do everything above board’.

‘I pay my taxes, I’ve got an accountant, I do everything above board, I’m a limited company. Everything is clean. I never want to get into trouble for anything,’ she says.

The pair add that they didn’t see anyone hanging around that day taking pictures.

As the drop off point continues to be monitored, Jerry suddenly has a breakthrough in the case which he only shares with a few officers – he suspects one of the officers on the surveillance team is behind the blackmail.

Kirie is shocked to hear about the blackmail (Picture: Channel 4)

They enter the surveillance van to arrest Suffling, who immediately bursts into tears.

Devine says: ‘Obviously you’re shocked, but we don’t come and do this sort of thing for nothing do we?’

The detectives found he used a police computer to access the victim’s personal details before the man reported the blackmail.

Suffling weeps as he is arrested (Picture: Channel 4)

Suffling is led away in handcuffs and put into the back of the vehicle while his home is searched, and the officers make a shocking discovery.

They find a torn-up letter in a bin and pictures of the victim of the blackmail.

Suffling makes a confession via a letter from his lawyer, saying he only did it to help a prositute get into a drug referral scheme.

One of his colleagues, DS Tom Hamm, saying: ‘He was really good at what he chose to do, because he had the knowledge and he had the leadership. He could have gone as high as he wanted, really, so I don’t know why he’s done what he’s done.’

24 Hours In Police Custody airs 19 February at 9pm on Channel 4.

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