AN UNDERCOVER cop’s evidence has been called into question and branded “a convenient story”.

Basildon Crown Court heard yesterday an officer, known as Deano, had posed as a drug addict to infiltrate a gang called the Bush Boys, who are accused of pedalling crack and heroin in Basildon.

But his cover was blown when two alleged members of the gang, Thomas Symonds, 19, of Dawson Close, Woolwich, and Hassan Mohammed, became suspicious and locked him in a room, interrogated and beat him up, according to Deano’s account.

The officer said he escaped by jumping from a first floor window of a property in Roodegate, Basildon, last November.

Symonds’s barrister, Richard Witcombe disputed his client was ever in the building.

He told the court Deano had bought drugs twice from Symonds in the months leading up to the alleged gang’s exposure, but there was no evidence to show the defendant was ever in the property on November 26 – only the officer’s account.

Mr Witcombe claimed his client had given up selling drugs by that point, and said: “Everything the prosecution has said is comfortable and convenient, but when you analyse it, what they have suggested cannot be the case. If Symonds and Mr Big (Hassan Mohammed) had decided to interrogate the cop, there would be no backing down from there.

“They couldn’t say ‘oh sorry, can you go away and forget about this’?”

The barrister said when Deano took to the stand he claimed he stood toe-to-toe with Symonds on the night he was arrested, but could not say how tall Symonds was.

Mr Witcombe said Deano had dubbed Symonds “Diamond Studded Bush Boy” because of his earrings, which he spotted from previous drug transactions.

However, he could not remember if he was wearing any jewellery when he was being interrogated by him.

When Symonds was arrested later that night, police recovered two earrings from him.

Mr Witcombe added: “There were no phones, no cash and no forensics that implicated my client – just Deano’s assertion.

“There is no web of evidence."

The trial continues.