UK: Policeman jailed for drug smuggling
01 January 1997
A policeman, who was investigated during "Operation Jackpot", which inquired into drug-dealing at Stoke Newington police station in north London, has been jailed for 10 years after being found guilty of conspiring to smuggle cannabis into Britain. Detective Constable, Ronald Palumbo, who was based at Stoke Newington until he was transferred at the beginning of 1992 at the start of the Jackpot investigation, was one of four men who were jailed after Customs stopped a lorry and recovered over ?2 million worth of cannabis (see Statewatch Vol 2, nos 2 & 4; Vol 3, no 1; Vol 4, nos 2 & 5).
Operation Jackpot, a three-year internal police inquiry into 134 allegations of planting drugs and assaulting suspects by a group of 45 police officers, was the most extensive investigation into police corruption since the 1970s. To the dismay and incredulity of community groups and local MPs, the inquiry resulted in charges being brought against only two policemen: one of these was Palumbo. He appeared at the Old Bailey in December 1995, charged with perjury and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, but was cleared of all charges.
Palumbo was also involved in a number of other court cases where it was alleged that he had planted drugs and fabricated evidence. To date 13 people, convicted after being arrested by Stoke Newington police officers, have had their convictions quashed and the Metropolitan police have paid out over ?500,000 in damages for false imprisonment and wrongful arrest.
In January 1995 Palumbo issued a writ against the Guardian newspaper claiming damages for libel following allegations made against him. His writ was never served, although five other police officers from the station, Reynald Bennett, Bernard Gillen, Paul Goscombe, Gerald Mapp and Robert Watton, did proceed with an action. In February their case came to the High Court where, in a decision that has been hailed as a victory for press freedom, a jury contemptuously dismissed their claims. The decision left the Police Federation, which backed the officers case, with a bill for £500,000; the Federation will also have to pay a substantial portion of the Guardian's costs.
Palumbo is the second officer investigated by Operation Jackpot to be jailed; in November 1992 DC Roy Lewandowski was sentenced to 18 months after being found guilty of stealing from the house of a murder victim.
Guardian 8 & 25.2.97