Former Vic cop Trevor Adair stole cash during house raid BUT avoids jail…On the surface it appears one rule for some, and not for others. Can you imagine Joe Blow not doing time for stealing nearly 10 grand. Here we have a copper who was stressed…Poor bugger…We all are mate…At least he has NOT still got his $90,000 a year job. His cop buddies bragged about him in court, I do not believe it was a one-off. Fraud Squad hey…Go figure…
A FORMER Fraud Squad detective was today given a suspended jail term for stealing $9120 from a Prada purse during a police raid on a house in connection with suspected credit card scams.
Trevor Adair, 42, had 22 years of otherwise unblemished service in the police force but had taken the cash in a spontaneous “moment of madness”, Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard.
Magistrate Elizabeth Lambden, in imposing a three-month jail term wholly suspended for a year, said the case involved a serious breach of trust and would normally attract a prison sentence. So why isn’t he doing time?
Adair, who was highly-regarded by colleagues, pleaded guilty to the theft and said the pressure of child support payments may have been a factor.
Magistrate Lambden said she took account of Adair’s heightened anxiety and depression at the time of the offence, coupled with marital problems in the aftermath of his father’s death.
Adair was alone in a bedroom of the Glen Waverley home when he came across the money – which the woman whose purse it was claimed had been accrued as winnings at Crown Casino and from fruit picking earnings.
It was found in Adair’s backpack in a police car outside the property after the police raid in January and Adair made full admissions, the court heard.
Defence lawyer John Kelly said Adair should be given some sentence benefit because of his ready admissions, contrition and loss of livelihood, as well as consideration that most charges of this type were contested in court and Adair had been given separate legal advice he could fight the charge. No doubt pleaded because other stuff would of come up.
“It’s a pretty brave and lonely step to take (in pleading guilty),” Mr Kelly said.
Adair, who was earning $94,000 a year with the force and paying $9000 a year in child support, resigned from the police and now works as a labourer and bottle shop attendant, the court heard.
“It was a spur-of-the-moment brain fade… I don’t understand it,” Adair told Ethical Standards Department investigators. Greedy bastard thought he would get away with stealing from the enemy obviously, and she must of screamed out theft before they left.Good on her…
Aussie Criminals and Crooks 