A cocaine-addicted detective who stole drugs with a retail value of almost £400,000 from police stores and supplied them to criminals has been jailed for 19 years.

Andrew Talbot, 54, formerly a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) detective constable, conspired with convicted drug dealer Keith Bretherton, 50, to sell the stolen drugs, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

Sentencing him on Friday, Judge Neil Flewitt KC said: “As a result of conscientious and dedicated police work, large quantities of Class A drugs were taken off the streets by officers of Greater Manchester Police, many of whom were your colleagues.

“As a result of your addiction and greed a significant quantity of that cocaine was put back into circulation.

“You deceived your colleagues and you betrayed the trust placed in you by them and the community.”

The investigation into Talbot, by GMP’s anti-corruption unit, began in February 2020 after he dropped a small bag of cocaine outside his daughter’s primary school.

James Lake, prosecuting, said: “Staff members were made aware that a snap bag containing white powder had been found on the footpath. When the school looked at close circuit television they saw that it was Andrew Talbot who had dropped the snap bag.

“Unsurprisingly, given they knew he was a police officer, they contacted the police.”

When Talbot was arrested after arriving for duty at work on February 17 2020, a total of 26.8g of high purity cocaine was found in his coat pocket, as well as smaller amounts which were lower purity, the court heard.

Snap bags and a piece of paper with exhibit references for Operation Cosmetic, which investigated the nationwide supply of cocaine, were found in his car and three bullets were found at his home in Leigh, Greater Manchester.

When officers checked drugs which had been seized as part of Operation Cosmetic and another investigation they found just under 4kg of cocaine was missing.

Mr Lake said: “He accepted when he attended the property store he would take pocketfuls, as much as he could fit in his pockets.”

The court heard the drugs had an estimated wholesale value of £140,000 and a retail value of £394,500.

Talbot conducted multiple searches of GMP’s confidential computer systems for known or suspected drug dealers in his area.

The judge said: “Although it is unclear exactly how Andrew Talbot disposed of the stolen cocaine, I have no doubt that he sold it to criminals who, in turn, cut it and sold it on the streets.”

Talbot also provided confidential police information to a friend under investigation for assault and to Bretherton, to help him recover a drug debt worth more than £20,000, the court heard.

Ryan Donoghue, defending Talbot, said there was no evidence Talbot was living a “lavish lifestyle”.

He said: “He did have at the time a long-standing addiction to cocaine.”

The court heard Talbot had served in the police force for 20 years, and had spent three years in the armed forces, but had become addicted to cocaine after difficulties in his personal life and due to his role in an operation in which Anthony Grainger was shot by armed police in Culcheth, Cheshire.

Talbot was found guilty following a trial of supplying a controlled drug of Class A, misconduct in public office and failing to provide the passcode for his phone.

He had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of cocaine, possession of ammunition without a firearm certificate, theft of cocaine, conspiracy, with Bretherton, to commit misconduct in public office, a further count of misconduct in public office, and unauthorised access to computer material.

Bretherton, also of Leigh, Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis, possession of cocaine with intent to supply, and conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office and was jailed for eight-and-a-half years.

Outside court, Detective Chief Inspector Jennifer Adams, from the Anti-Corruption Unit at Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said: “This is one of the most shocking cases of corruption uncovered by Greater Manchester Police’s anti-corruption unit.

“Whilst cases like this are concerning, they are also extremely rare. There is no place in policing for Talbot, or anyone else like him who cannot be trusted to uphold the law and keep our streets safe.”

Asked how Talbot, a drug addict, was able to carry on stealing and dealing drugs, for two years while working for the police, DCI Adams said: “He was an addict. He was supplying drugs.

“He’s a very extreme example and our processes allowed us to evidence exactly the scale of his offending.

“He is not representative of all of the thousands of hard-working people who work for Greater Manchester Police.

“He is an isolated exception and quite rightly he’s been handed down a significant sentence today for the full extent of that offending.”