Police auction ends burglary trial

A court case against a suspected burglar was abandoned because police sold potential evidence at auction, prosecutors admitted yesterday.

Peter Rafferty, 54, walked free from Stafford Crown Court on Monday after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it no longer had the exhibits for his trial.

Court officials had been told that items including a hand drill, gardening gloves, a torch and a screwdriver taken from the defendant during a search had been sold by West Midlands Police.

Mr Rafferty, from Willenhall, West Midlands, had denied a charge of going equipped for burglary.

In a statement, the CPS said the case had passed tests on evidence and public interest before it went to court, but prosecutors were later told by police that the exhibits "were no longer available".

The statement added: "The crown prosecutor must be satisfied that there is enough evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against the defendant on each charge.

"Due to the evidence no longer being available for production at the crown court, the CPS took the decision not to proceed with this particular case."

The crown prosecutor Tariq Shakoor reportedly told the court: "The exhibits have been sold by police at auction. The Crown takes the view it would not be a fair trial in the absence of these exhibits and offer no evidence."

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said the force had held an internal inquiry into the collapse of the case and that a police officer was being disciplined.