A Metropolitan Police officer has been convicted of theft after failing an integrity test staged by an undercover colleague.
Robin Ruston, 36, was handed a bag containing cash and a phone charger "to test his integrity".
Instead of processing the supposedly lost property in the correct manner, Ruston dipped into the bag and took the £200 in cash for himself. For whatever reason the media appears to have taken very little interest in this story, but a short piece has appeared on the talkRADIO website.
Ruston appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court earlier today, where he admitted a single charge of theft.
We have previously written a Brief Guide to Theft for anyone interested in the legalities surrounding the offence.
The officer of 15 years' standing broke down in tears in court and said he had "ruined his good name, let down his colleagues, friends, partner and the public".
Deputy Senior District Judge Tan Ikram said: "The degree of breach of trust in a case like this could not be higher.
"The circumstances of this case are an undercover police officer gave you lost property and he did so to test your integrity. And they don't do it randomly," he said.
He added: "They were testing your integrity and you failed because you kept the money for yourself. If we can't trust our police officers who can we trust?"
Tom Doble, mitigating, said Ruston was declared bankruptcy after getting divorced in 2015 and is in "acute financial difficulty" with an overdrawn bank account.
"He took the money because he had a holiday booked with his children at the end of the week. He didn't want to be the dad who didn't have any money again for his children," he said.
Ruston has been paying child support for three children with his ex-wife, and also provides for a child he has fathered with a new partner as well as her four children.
Judge Ikram deemed that Ruston's crime, which involved a serious breach of trust, was so serious that it justified a custodial sentence. However, given the officer's previous good character and personal circumstances the judge indicated that he would be inclined to make a suspended sentence order instead of sending Ruston straight to custody.
Ruston was sentenced to 16 weeks' custody, which was suspended for two years.
He was also ordered to pay £207 in costs and £122 victim surcharge.
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