By Les Kennedy
October 22, 2004
The Police Commissioner, Ken Moroney, has begun formal
proceedings to dismiss the corrupt detective Christopher John
Laycock.
Laycock, 33, who told the Police Integrity Commission that he
thwarted a child pornography investigation in return for a bribe,
was asked in writing yesterday to show cause why he should not be
sacked.
No criminal charges have been laid but Mr Moroney has the power
to dismiss any officer under Section 181d - "Loss of commissioner's
confidence" - of the Police Service Act.
In a statement, Mr Moroney confirmed Laycock, the son of the
recently retired assistant commissioner John Laycock, had been
served with the 181d notice at his home yesterday.
Under the act, Laycock who was suspended from duty on September
29, is entitled to argue in writing any mitigating circumstances
that he should continue to serve as an officer.
In evidence to the integrity commission, Laycock, who joined the
police in 1989, has admitted to eight years of corrupt activity
that have included associations with alleged Russian mafia
figures.
He admitted to using fake search warrants to extort money from
suspects and to taking bribes from criminals.
Friday, October 22, 2004
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Corrupt detective gets the boot
Corrupt Sydney policeman Chris Laycock will be sacked in three weeks unless he can prove he has good reason to stay, NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney said today.
 |
Former police commissioner's son, Christopher Laycock. Photo: Bob Pearce |
Detective Sergeant Laycock was suspended on September 29 pending the outcome of a Police Integrity Commission inquiry into the Burwood officer's dealings.
In the hearing's first week, the 33-year-old father of four confessed to tipping off a child pornography suspect for cash, taking bribes and planning kidnappings.
Sgt Laycock, the son of former NSW Police assistant commissioner John Laycock, also admitted he plotted to "grab" an Asian woman, accepted $10,000 to rig a jury in a murder trial and used his police badge to execute unauthorised raids.
NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney said the officer would be served notice to leave the force.
"Under the terms of the notice, the detective sergeant has 21 days to show cause as to why he should not be removed from the NSW Police," he said in a statement.
The PIC inquiry is expected to continue early next month.
Thursday, October 14, 2004
Corrupt officer denies break-in
Last Update: Thursday, October 14, 2004. 7:14pm (AEST)
A corrupt police officer has been accused of breaking into an eastern Sydney home where it is believed drugs and money were being stashed.
Sergeant Christopher Laycock has repeatedly been questioned about the burglary of a home of a in Paddington in Sydney's east.
The Police Integrity Commission (PIC) heard the home's owner is David Hopes, who is accused of committing crimes with the Sergeant Laycock.
It has been alleged the officer believed that Mr Hopes had ripped off a drug dealer and stored the drugs and money at his home.
Mr Laycock has testified that he could not recall the break-in.
Counsel-assisting the PIC, Stephen Rushton SC, accused him of stealing a blue police light, a wig, house-breaking tools and equipment to pick locks from the home and storing them in western Sydney.
The officer has denied the allegations.
The hearing has been adjourned until a later date.
A corrupt police officer has been accused of breaking into an eastern Sydney home where it is believed drugs and money were being stashed.
Sergeant Christopher Laycock has repeatedly been questioned about the burglary of a home of a in Paddington in Sydney's east.
The Police Integrity Commission (PIC) heard the home's owner is David Hopes, who is accused of committing crimes with the Sergeant Laycock.
It has been alleged the officer believed that Mr Hopes had ripped off a drug dealer and stored the drugs and money at his home.
Mr Laycock has testified that he could not recall the break-in.
Counsel-assisting the PIC, Stephen Rushton SC, accused him of stealing a blue police light, a wig, house-breaking tools and equipment to pick locks from the home and storing them in western Sydney.
The officer has denied the allegations.
The hearing has been adjourned until a later date.
Corrupt officer denies taking cover-up money
ABC Online Last Update: Thursday, October 14, 2004. 4:47pm (AEST)
A Sydney police officer has denied he extorted money from a man to help him beat drugs charges.
The man has told the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) he paid the officer $5,000.
The 50-year-old man, identified as CB4, has testified that in 2001 he was facing serious drug charges when Sergeant Christopher John Laycock approached him and offered to help.
CB4 told the Commission he paid $5,000 to the officer who said he could help him beat the charges.
He paid the money in two instalments.
Sergeant Laycock has denied he took any money from CB4.
CB4 was ultimately convicted and received a suspended gaol term.
A Sydney police officer has denied he extorted money from a man to help him beat drugs charges.
The man has told the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) he paid the officer $5,000.
The 50-year-old man, identified as CB4, has testified that in 2001 he was facing serious drug charges when Sergeant Christopher John Laycock approached him and offered to help.
CB4 told the Commission he paid $5,000 to the officer who said he could help him beat the charges.
He paid the money in two instalments.
Sergeant Laycock has denied he took any money from CB4.
CB4 was ultimately convicted and received a suspended gaol term.
Laycock under scrutiny at NSW Police Integrity Commission
The World Today - Thursday, 14 October , 2004 12:41:00
Reporter: Jayne-Maree Sedgman
HAMISH ROBERTSON: The New South Wales Police Integrity Commission has heard yet more allegations about the activities of a corrupt Sydney detective already accused of tipping off a paedophile and accepting money from a murder suspect.
And this morning, Detective Sergeant Chris Laycock was at the centre of a political row - that he'd been asked to review the police handling of an alleged gang rape case despite being under investigation himself.
The parents of a 14-year-old girl - who says she was pack raped earlier this year - have called for the Police Minister John Watkins to resign over the matter.
Mr Watkins has apologised to the family - but says it was entirely appropriate that he was not informed of the investigation surrounding Chris Laycock.
Jayne-Maree Sedgman reports.
JAYNE-MAREE SEDGMAN: One can only imagine how the family of a Sydney girl felt when they realised Christopher Laycock was the detective tasked with reviewing the police's decision not to pursue her allegations she'd been gang raped earlier this year.
Burwood detectives told the family they were not convinced the case would lead to a conviction. When the family complained, Detective Sergeant Chris Laycock was told to review the investigation. He reported no adverse findings in relation to the police handling of the matter.
Not satisfied, the family then went to the Police Minister John Watkins. He later wrote back saying Detective Laycock had conducted a full and thorough investigation of their complaint. The girl's father, known only as Ian, spoke to AM.
IAN: Look, initially I was quite mortified by that finding from the Minister of Police – the most senior office. I thought, well, you know, how did you come up with that? And here he is endorsing this guy, and Detective Laycock, as we know, is been guilty of corruption, and his last act of corruption was – what was it - 22nd of July, whilst he was still investigating our complaint.
JAYNE-MAREE SEDGMAN: Today, Mr Watkins said it was entirely appropriate that he was not told Laycock was himself the subject of a corruption investigation.
JOHN WATKINS: This raises two issues. One – the independence of the corruption investigation and fighting agencies, both within the police, special crime and internal affairs, and the PIC … and my view is, and I think quite appropriately, is that that is independent and should be independent from the minister. I should not be involved in operational matters, especially in relation to corruption.
JAYNE-MAREE SEDGMAN: But Opposition Leader John Brogden is having none of it.
JOHN BROGDEN: Well it's a demonstration of absolute incompetence by the Police Minister, John Watkins. We have a very serious case here that I think deserves a proper and thorough reinvestigation, not by a police officer who's under investigation by the Police Integrity Commission for severe corruption.
JAYNE-MAREE SEDGMAN: The Minister has now asked the Police Integrity Commission, the Ombudsman, Police Internal Affairs, and an independent police review team to re-examine the girl's accusations and the manner in which the case was handled.
Mr Watkins says while others knew Laycock was under investigation, they were obliged to keep quiet so as not to alert him.
JOHN WATKINS: The PIC knew that this officer was being investigated. Laycock was part of the complaint management team in the Burwood local area command, and this raises one of the real difficulties with corruption investigation – if the PIC is involved in investigating a corrupt police officer, how much can they do to remove that officer from operational policing and not tip them off? And thereby not get information about them or potentially links to other corrupt police officers.
This has been a challenge to corruption fighting agencies since the Police Royal Commission days.
JAYNE-MAREE SEDGMAN: But, it still begs the question, why was Detective Sergeant Chris Laycock, who worked at Burwood Station, asked to investigate his colleagues in the first place. The corrupt detective is expected to face further allegations when he fronts the PIC this afternoon.
HAMISH ROBERTSON: Jayne-Maree Sedgman reporting there.
And this morning, Detective Sergeant Chris Laycock was at the centre of a political row - that he'd been asked to review the police handling of an alleged gang rape case despite being under investigation himself.
The parents of a 14-year-old girl - who says she was pack raped earlier this year - have called for the Police Minister John Watkins to resign over the matter.
Mr Watkins has apologised to the family - but says it was entirely appropriate that he was not informed of the investigation surrounding Chris Laycock.
Jayne-Maree Sedgman reports.
JAYNE-MAREE SEDGMAN: One can only imagine how the family of a Sydney girl felt when they realised Christopher Laycock was the detective tasked with reviewing the police's decision not to pursue her allegations she'd been gang raped earlier this year.
Burwood detectives told the family they were not convinced the case would lead to a conviction. When the family complained, Detective Sergeant Chris Laycock was told to review the investigation. He reported no adverse findings in relation to the police handling of the matter.
Not satisfied, the family then went to the Police Minister John Watkins. He later wrote back saying Detective Laycock had conducted a full and thorough investigation of their complaint. The girl's father, known only as Ian, spoke to AM.
IAN: Look, initially I was quite mortified by that finding from the Minister of Police – the most senior office. I thought, well, you know, how did you come up with that? And here he is endorsing this guy, and Detective Laycock, as we know, is been guilty of corruption, and his last act of corruption was – what was it - 22nd of July, whilst he was still investigating our complaint.
JAYNE-MAREE SEDGMAN: Today, Mr Watkins said it was entirely appropriate that he was not told Laycock was himself the subject of a corruption investigation.
JOHN WATKINS: This raises two issues. One – the independence of the corruption investigation and fighting agencies, both within the police, special crime and internal affairs, and the PIC … and my view is, and I think quite appropriately, is that that is independent and should be independent from the minister. I should not be involved in operational matters, especially in relation to corruption.
JAYNE-MAREE SEDGMAN: But Opposition Leader John Brogden is having none of it.
JOHN BROGDEN: Well it's a demonstration of absolute incompetence by the Police Minister, John Watkins. We have a very serious case here that I think deserves a proper and thorough reinvestigation, not by a police officer who's under investigation by the Police Integrity Commission for severe corruption.
JAYNE-MAREE SEDGMAN: The Minister has now asked the Police Integrity Commission, the Ombudsman, Police Internal Affairs, and an independent police review team to re-examine the girl's accusations and the manner in which the case was handled.
Mr Watkins says while others knew Laycock was under investigation, they were obliged to keep quiet so as not to alert him.
JOHN WATKINS: The PIC knew that this officer was being investigated. Laycock was part of the complaint management team in the Burwood local area command, and this raises one of the real difficulties with corruption investigation – if the PIC is involved in investigating a corrupt police officer, how much can they do to remove that officer from operational policing and not tip them off? And thereby not get information about them or potentially links to other corrupt police officers.
This has been a challenge to corruption fighting agencies since the Police Royal Commission days.
JAYNE-MAREE SEDGMAN: But, it still begs the question, why was Detective Sergeant Chris Laycock, who worked at Burwood Station, asked to investigate his colleagues in the first place. The corrupt detective is expected to face further allegations when he fronts the PIC this afternoon.
HAMISH ROBERTSON: Jayne-Maree Sedgman reporting there.
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Watkins under fire as corruption scandal widens
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
TV PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT
Broadcast: 13/10/2004
Reporter: John Stewart
TONY JONES: There was widespread disgust around the country when details emerged of the pack rapes in south-western Sydney by members of a Lebanese gang.
Key members of the gang were convicted and are now serving long jail terms.
But now the parents of a 14-year-old Sydney girl have alleged she was gang raped by another group of Lebanese youths.
They now want that investigation reopened after learning that a senior policeman involved in the case has a long history of corruption.
The officer is Detective Sergeant Chris Laycock, who has admitted being corrupt for eight years, including tipping off a child pornography suspect and extorting money from criminals.
Laycock's role in the rape investigation was to review the way the case was handled.
No charges were ever laid against the alleged rapists.
Tonight, the New South Wales Police Minister, John Watkins, is under fire for endorsing Laycock's audit of the Burwood investigation, describing it as "full and thorough".
John Stewart reports.
JOHN STEWART: It's been an extraordinary week at the Police Integrity Commission.
Centre stage is Detective Sergeant Chris Laycock.
During the past five days he's admitted to tipping off child pornography suspects in return for cash, plotting a kidnap with a Russian underworld figure, taking thousands of dollars in bribes and agreeing to help a murder suspect influence a jury.
Ian and Sarah are the parents of a 14-year-old girl they claim was raped by a group of Lebanese Muslim youths earlier this year in a car park at a Sydney beach.
IAN, FATHER OF ALLEGED RAPE VICTIM: We believe there could have been as many as seven to nine different people.
And that took place in the Brighton area and it is renowned, renowned.
JOHN STEWART: Today, Ian travelled to the car park where the alleged assault took place.
IAN: As you can see it's a family area, this is where families go.
And it's such a tragic set of events unfold here probably most nights of the week.
The contrast couldn't be -
Look at it.
It's devastating.
JOHN STEWART: The 14-year-old girl wrote a letter to her parents, describing the incident.
SARAH, MOTHER OF ALLEGED RAPE VICTIM: "There were about 60 Lebos there.
And about 30 of them came up to me, and I remember six guys took me to this car.
Then two of them, holding me down on the car - " Hang on, Ian hasn't seen this.
IAN: It's all right.
SARAH: "Then Ali raped me, then three other guys did the same, then locked me in the car and then three other guys came and they got into the car and made me give them head jobs.
Then six came and made me do the same.
Then about 14 guys came to me and got me out of the car and cut me and then ran me down and then ran after me and pushed me on the ground, on the road, and had sex with me, then stopped.
Then they spat on me.
Then they called me an Aussie slut."
JOHN STEWART: The parents reported the alleged rape to Burwood Police, but the local detectives were not convinced the case would lead to a conviction.
SARAH: Every time I rang Burwood Police, every time I turned up to Burwood Police, I was told this is what 13- and 14-year-old girls do.
JOHN STEWART: The parents then wrote a series of letters to government agencies calling for the case to be re-examined.
The case was finally reviewed by none other than Detective Sergeant Chris Laycock, the senior officer based at Burwood Police station, whose job it was to handle all complaints about police.
Detective Laycock concluded there was: "No adverse finding in respect to officers attached to the Burwood local area command."
JOHN STEWART: Ian and Sarah also received a letter from the NSW Police Minister, John Watkins, on August 10, stating: "I understand that Detective Sergeant Chris Laycock conducted a full and thorough investigation into your complaint about the manner in which Burwood Police responded to your daughter's situation."
JOHN STEWART: When the Police Minister wrote to the family in August, endorsing Detective Laycock's investigation of their case, Laycock had already been under surveillance by anti-corruption officers for months.
The family now want a formal apology from the Minister and the case re-opened.
IAN: You, Minister, yourself, have said, he did a thorough job.
Well, he didn't do a thorough job, and this family expects you to stand up.
And if you can't stand up, we expect you to stand down.
JOHN BROGDEN, OPPOSITION LEADER: It's a demonstration of absolute incompetence by the Police Minister, John Watkins.
We have a very serious case here that I think deserves a proper and thorough re-investigation, not by a police officer who's under investigation by the Police Integrity Commission for severe corruption.
JOHN STEWART: A spokeswoman for the Police Minister says: "The Minister is sorry if the matter before the Police Integrity Commission has caused the family any further distress.
He is re-examining the issue they raised in the letter to him."
JOHN STEWART: Detective Chris Laycock will appear at the Police Integrity Commission tomorrow, to face further corruption charges.
John Stewart, Lateline.
Additional Reading ABC World Today: Laycock under scrutiny at NSW Police Integrity Commission
TV PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT
Broadcast: 13/10/2004
Reporter: John Stewart
TONY JONES: There was widespread disgust around the country when details emerged of the pack rapes in south-western Sydney by members of a Lebanese gang.
Key members of the gang were convicted and are now serving long jail terms.
But now the parents of a 14-year-old Sydney girl have alleged she was gang raped by another group of Lebanese youths.
They now want that investigation reopened after learning that a senior policeman involved in the case has a long history of corruption.
The officer is Detective Sergeant Chris Laycock, who has admitted being corrupt for eight years, including tipping off a child pornography suspect and extorting money from criminals.
Laycock's role in the rape investigation was to review the way the case was handled.
No charges were ever laid against the alleged rapists.
Tonight, the New South Wales Police Minister, John Watkins, is under fire for endorsing Laycock's audit of the Burwood investigation, describing it as "full and thorough".
John Stewart reports.
JOHN STEWART: It's been an extraordinary week at the Police Integrity Commission.
Centre stage is Detective Sergeant Chris Laycock.
During the past five days he's admitted to tipping off child pornography suspects in return for cash, plotting a kidnap with a Russian underworld figure, taking thousands of dollars in bribes and agreeing to help a murder suspect influence a jury.
Ian and Sarah are the parents of a 14-year-old girl they claim was raped by a group of Lebanese Muslim youths earlier this year in a car park at a Sydney beach.
IAN, FATHER OF ALLEGED RAPE VICTIM: We believe there could have been as many as seven to nine different people.
And that took place in the Brighton area and it is renowned, renowned.
JOHN STEWART: Today, Ian travelled to the car park where the alleged assault took place.
IAN: As you can see it's a family area, this is where families go.
And it's such a tragic set of events unfold here probably most nights of the week.
The contrast couldn't be -
Look at it.
It's devastating.
JOHN STEWART: The 14-year-old girl wrote a letter to her parents, describing the incident.
SARAH, MOTHER OF ALLEGED RAPE VICTIM: "There were about 60 Lebos there.
And about 30 of them came up to me, and I remember six guys took me to this car.
Then two of them, holding me down on the car - " Hang on, Ian hasn't seen this.
IAN: It's all right.
SARAH: "Then Ali raped me, then three other guys did the same, then locked me in the car and then three other guys came and they got into the car and made me give them head jobs.
Then six came and made me do the same.
Then about 14 guys came to me and got me out of the car and cut me and then ran me down and then ran after me and pushed me on the ground, on the road, and had sex with me, then stopped.
Then they spat on me.
Then they called me an Aussie slut."
JOHN STEWART: The parents reported the alleged rape to Burwood Police, but the local detectives were not convinced the case would lead to a conviction.
SARAH: Every time I rang Burwood Police, every time I turned up to Burwood Police, I was told this is what 13- and 14-year-old girls do.
JOHN STEWART: The parents then wrote a series of letters to government agencies calling for the case to be re-examined.
The case was finally reviewed by none other than Detective Sergeant Chris Laycock, the senior officer based at Burwood Police station, whose job it was to handle all complaints about police.
Detective Laycock concluded there was: "No adverse finding in respect to officers attached to the Burwood local area command."
JOHN STEWART: Ian and Sarah also received a letter from the NSW Police Minister, John Watkins, on August 10, stating: "I understand that Detective Sergeant Chris Laycock conducted a full and thorough investigation into your complaint about the manner in which Burwood Police responded to your daughter's situation."
JOHN STEWART: When the Police Minister wrote to the family in August, endorsing Detective Laycock's investigation of their case, Laycock had already been under surveillance by anti-corruption officers for months.
The family now want a formal apology from the Minister and the case re-opened.
IAN: You, Minister, yourself, have said, he did a thorough job.
Well, he didn't do a thorough job, and this family expects you to stand up.
And if you can't stand up, we expect you to stand down.
JOHN BROGDEN, OPPOSITION LEADER: It's a demonstration of absolute incompetence by the Police Minister, John Watkins.
We have a very serious case here that I think deserves a proper and thorough re-investigation, not by a police officer who's under investigation by the Police Integrity Commission for severe corruption.
JOHN STEWART: A spokeswoman for the Police Minister says: "The Minister is sorry if the matter before the Police Integrity Commission has caused the family any further distress.
He is re-examining the issue they raised in the letter to him."
JOHN STEWART: Detective Chris Laycock will appear at the Police Integrity Commission tomorrow, to face further corruption charges.
John Stewart, Lateline.
Additional Reading ABC World Today: Laycock under scrutiny at NSW Police Integrity Commission
Policeman admits he took money to fix jury
By Geesche Jacobsen
October 13, 2004
A police officer being investigated by the Police Integrity Commission was allegedly paid by a murder suspect to blame someone else for the crime, which is still unsolved.
Sergeant Chris Laycock, who has already admitted to tipping off a child pornography suspect and extorting money from criminals, also said yesterday that he had taken money to "fix a jury" in a drug trial, although he denied actually doing what he was paid for.
He told the inquiry, Operation Cobalt, that he began extorting money from criminals more than three years ago.
He was asked by counsel assisting the inquiry, Stephen Rushton, SC, about receiving $10,000 from a suspect in a murder inquiry. He said he was taken by someone he knew to meet "a bloke in a hat" in a car somewhere in Balmain and, after a brief conversation, was given the money.
"Can I suggest this to you, Mr Laycock, that you ... put together a report alleging that you had received certain information ... that report being designed to take the heat off this particular suspect, and that's what you got your $10,000 for," Mr Rushton asked.
"No, I don't recall that," Sergeant Laycock said. "I recall speaking to some investigators about it."
"Do you recall putting together a report which indicated that, in fact, somebody else probably committed the murder, not this particular suspect?" - "No, I don't recall that whatsoever."
In another case, Sergeant Laycock said, he was approached by a known criminal, David Hopes, and offered $20,000 to "fix the jury" in a drug trial.
Mr Rushton: "You didn't, in fact, approach any jury person; you pretended that you had and you and Hopes pocketed the money?"
Sergeant Laycock: "Hopes had come up with a story '...We'll split the money and if this bloke ever asks, we'll come up with a story.' I can't remember what the story was now."
Earlier, Sergeant Laycock's associate, Jahangir Shagaev, a man with alleged ties to the Russian mafia, was played excerpts from 29 telephone conversations intercepted last month, mostly about planning the kidnapping of an Asian fraudster or two drug dealers. The plan failed on the day it was supposed to go ahead, when the PIC summonsed Laycock.
Mr Shagaev told the commission he wanted to tell Sergeant Laycock, whom he knew as Peter, he was bailing out. "I wasn't committed to it 100 per cent. I might have said what I said on the phone to Peter to keep him happy."
"Why did you want to keep him happy?" Rushton asked.
"Well, just the way I live. I don't like upsetting people. He seemed like a nice bloke ..." Mr Shagaev said. He said he had been acting "tough" in front of a friend, codenamed CB3, when discussing the planned kidnap, but did not plan to use violence.
He also told the commission he walked away from an earlier "debt collecting" venture when the person he was visiting screamed after he grabbed his arm.
"I've never been in this game, or this business, as I thought it was. I generally [sic] got scared when the man started screaming, so I let him go and walked away"
October 13, 2004
 |
| Christopher John Laycock |
Sergeant Chris Laycock, who has already admitted to tipping off a child pornography suspect and extorting money from criminals, also said yesterday that he had taken money to "fix a jury" in a drug trial, although he denied actually doing what he was paid for.
He told the inquiry, Operation Cobalt, that he began extorting money from criminals more than three years ago.
He was asked by counsel assisting the inquiry, Stephen Rushton, SC, about receiving $10,000 from a suspect in a murder inquiry. He said he was taken by someone he knew to meet "a bloke in a hat" in a car somewhere in Balmain and, after a brief conversation, was given the money.
"Can I suggest this to you, Mr Laycock, that you ... put together a report alleging that you had received certain information ... that report being designed to take the heat off this particular suspect, and that's what you got your $10,000 for," Mr Rushton asked.
"No, I don't recall that," Sergeant Laycock said. "I recall speaking to some investigators about it."
"Do you recall putting together a report which indicated that, in fact, somebody else probably committed the murder, not this particular suspect?" - "No, I don't recall that whatsoever."
In another case, Sergeant Laycock said, he was approached by a known criminal, David Hopes, and offered $20,000 to "fix the jury" in a drug trial.
Mr Rushton: "You didn't, in fact, approach any jury person; you pretended that you had and you and Hopes pocketed the money?"
Sergeant Laycock: "Hopes had come up with a story '...We'll split the money and if this bloke ever asks, we'll come up with a story.' I can't remember what the story was now."
Earlier, Sergeant Laycock's associate, Jahangir Shagaev, a man with alleged ties to the Russian mafia, was played excerpts from 29 telephone conversations intercepted last month, mostly about planning the kidnapping of an Asian fraudster or two drug dealers. The plan failed on the day it was supposed to go ahead, when the PIC summonsed Laycock.
Mr Shagaev told the commission he wanted to tell Sergeant Laycock, whom he knew as Peter, he was bailing out. "I wasn't committed to it 100 per cent. I might have said what I said on the phone to Peter to keep him happy."
"Why did you want to keep him happy?" Rushton asked.
"Well, just the way I live. I don't like upsetting people. He seemed like a nice bloke ..." Mr Shagaev said. He said he had been acting "tough" in front of a friend, codenamed CB3, when discussing the planned kidnap, but did not plan to use violence.
He also told the commission he walked away from an earlier "debt collecting" venture when the person he was visiting screamed after he grabbed his arm.
"I've never been in this game, or this business, as I thought it was. I generally [sic] got scared when the man started screaming, so I let him go and walked away"
Cop 'plotted' to kidnap dealer's family
October 13, 2004 - 4:36PM
A Sydney policeman who tipped off a child porn suspect for cash also planned with the aid of the Russian mafia to kidnap the entire family of an alleged drug dealer to extort money .
Sergeant Christopher Laycock was involved in at least two kidnap plots with his Russian associate Jahangir Shagaev, known criminal David Hopes and others, according to their associate John Robert Dunks, who fronted the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) today.
Sgt Laycock, the son of former NSW Police assistant commissioner John Laycock, earlier this week admitted plotting to "grab" an unidentified Asian woman, a fraud suspect, in Sydney's inner west.
But today Mr Dunks, who said he had known Hopes since the 1960s, said the men had also planned to kidnap the family of an unnamed "major drug dealer" around the same time.
As both Sgt Laycock and his father looked on today, Mr Dunks, who gave his occupation as disability pensioner, told the commission that Hopes had come to his home to discuss kidnap plans.
"I didn't want to get involved with it," he said.
"He (Hopes) said there was a family going to be grabbed, taken away by Russian people.
"And wherever they'd got the money, they'd make them talk."
But the day before that plan was set to go ahead Hopes told Mr Dunks of an alternative plan - to abduct the Asian woman.
"He said another person had been nominated ... which was a Chinese woman," Mr Dunks said.
"He said whichever way it goes today, one of them's going to be taken."
But both kidnap plots fell apart on the day the plan was supposed to have been carried out, September 28 this year, because that was the day Sgt Laycock was summonsed to the PIC.
Sgt Laycock, a 33-year-old father of four, was suspended last week to appear before the commission.
He has already admitted to accepting nearly $4,000 for alerting a child porn suspect two days before his home was raided, accepting $10,000 to rig a jury in a still-unsolved murder trial. and using his police badge to execute unauthorised raids on people's homes to steal cash and jewellery.
Today Mr Dunks said he was pressured by Hopes into helping with two such raids.
He said his job was to sit at the back of a van and listen to a police radio to ensure the operation was not traced.
Mr Shagaev, a security guard with alleged Russian mafia links, appeared yesterday and said he was involved with the plot to kidnap the Chinese woman but never expected it to eventuate.
A Sydney policeman who tipped off a child porn suspect for cash also planned with the aid of the Russian mafia to kidnap the entire family of an alleged drug dealer to extort money .
Sergeant Christopher Laycock was involved in at least two kidnap plots with his Russian associate Jahangir Shagaev, known criminal David Hopes and others, according to their associate John Robert Dunks, who fronted the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) today.
Sgt Laycock, the son of former NSW Police assistant commissioner John Laycock, earlier this week admitted plotting to "grab" an unidentified Asian woman, a fraud suspect, in Sydney's inner west.
But today Mr Dunks, who said he had known Hopes since the 1960s, said the men had also planned to kidnap the family of an unnamed "major drug dealer" around the same time.
As both Sgt Laycock and his father looked on today, Mr Dunks, who gave his occupation as disability pensioner, told the commission that Hopes had come to his home to discuss kidnap plans.
"I didn't want to get involved with it," he said.
"He (Hopes) said there was a family going to be grabbed, taken away by Russian people.
"And wherever they'd got the money, they'd make them talk."
But the day before that plan was set to go ahead Hopes told Mr Dunks of an alternative plan - to abduct the Asian woman.
"He said another person had been nominated ... which was a Chinese woman," Mr Dunks said.
"He said whichever way it goes today, one of them's going to be taken."
But both kidnap plots fell apart on the day the plan was supposed to have been carried out, September 28 this year, because that was the day Sgt Laycock was summonsed to the PIC.
Sgt Laycock, a 33-year-old father of four, was suspended last week to appear before the commission.
He has already admitted to accepting nearly $4,000 for alerting a child porn suspect two days before his home was raided, accepting $10,000 to rig a jury in a still-unsolved murder trial. and using his police badge to execute unauthorised raids on people's homes to steal cash and jewellery.
Today Mr Dunks said he was pressured by Hopes into helping with two such raids.
He said his job was to sit at the back of a van and listen to a police radio to ensure the operation was not traced.
Mr Shagaev, a security guard with alleged Russian mafia links, appeared yesterday and said he was involved with the plot to kidnap the Chinese woman but never expected it to eventuate.
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Suspended policeman admits accepting money from murder suspect
Last Update: Tuesday, October 12, 2004. 9:00pm (AEST)
A suspended Sydney police sargeant has admitted that he accepted thousands of dollars from a suspect in a murder investigation.
Christopher John Laycock briefly returned to the witness box at the Police Integrity Commission, where he admitted he met the murder suspect in Balmain and was paid $10,000.
It was put to him by counsel-assisting the inquiry, Steven Rushton SC, that in exchange for the payment, Laycock wrote a police report designed to take the heat off the suspect.
Laycock said he could not recall it.
The murder remains unsolved.
Laycock was also asked about accepting $10, 000 to fix the jury in a criminal trial in 2001.
It was alleged Laycock pretended to approach the jury and pocketed the money.
Laycock said he remembered "the jury incident" but could not recall many of the details.
A man described as a gangster with links to the Russian mafia also gave evidence.
Jahangir Shagaev gave an account of his involvement with Laycock.
Mr Shagaev said Laycock planned to kidnap and extort money from people, and enlisted him to help.
Mr Shagaev said he met Laycock at least four times in Burwood, in Sydney's west, and told of three separate plots.
One involved a former drug dealer who was supposed to have $250,000 buried in his backyard.
Mr Shagaev told the Commission he went to the man's home with Laycock and another former policeman, but left when the man began to scream.
Mr Shagaev said he and Laycock also discussed plans to target two drug dealers and an Asian couple involved in large scale fraud.
A suspended Sydney police sargeant has admitted that he accepted thousands of dollars from a suspect in a murder investigation.
Christopher John Laycock briefly returned to the witness box at the Police Integrity Commission, where he admitted he met the murder suspect in Balmain and was paid $10,000.
It was put to him by counsel-assisting the inquiry, Steven Rushton SC, that in exchange for the payment, Laycock wrote a police report designed to take the heat off the suspect.
Laycock said he could not recall it.
The murder remains unsolved.
Laycock was also asked about accepting $10, 000 to fix the jury in a criminal trial in 2001.
It was alleged Laycock pretended to approach the jury and pocketed the money.
Laycock said he remembered "the jury incident" but could not recall many of the details.
A man described as a gangster with links to the Russian mafia also gave evidence.
Jahangir Shagaev gave an account of his involvement with Laycock.
Mr Shagaev said Laycock planned to kidnap and extort money from people, and enlisted him to help.
Mr Shagaev said he met Laycock at least four times in Burwood, in Sydney's west, and told of three separate plots.
One involved a former drug dealer who was supposed to have $250,000 buried in his backyard.
Mr Shagaev told the Commission he went to the man's home with Laycock and another former policeman, but left when the man began to scream.
Mr Shagaev said he and Laycock also discussed plans to target two drug dealers and an Asian couple involved in large scale fraud.
Officer planned to kidnap criminals
By Geesche Jacobsen
October 12, 2004
A senior Sydney police officer who has admitted taking money for tipping off a child porn suspect had also been planning to kidnap criminals and extort money from them, the Police Integrity Commission heard yesterday.
The officer and his associates had three possible targets - a former drug dealer who was said to have $500,000 buried in his backyard, a drug-dealing couple and an Asian woman who had been involved in a fraud.
But the plan fell through two weeks ago, on the day it was to be carried out, when Sergeant Christopher John Laycock was summonsed by the commission.
A witness, codenamed CB3, told the commission's inquiry into Laycock's activities he had discussed the plans with a friend, Jahangir Shagaev, who had boasted to him about a senior police contact in the Burwood region. CB3 had never met the officer.
Shagaev, nicknamed "the Russian", was introduced to Laycock by Laycock's former police partner, Chris Walker.
Laycock said Shagaev had purported "to have some contact in the Russian community ... the Russian mafia" and "to be some big gangster".
CB3 said he had been told the target would by the Asian woman, who lived in Homebush. He waited for Shagaev to meet the police contact on September 28, but the man failed to show up. He later learnt the man had been contacted by the commission.
Laycock admitted in evidence yesterday he "might have" discussed plans to extort money with Shagaev, but said the plan was not to "kidnap" people, but just to "grab hold" of them. "All it was was talk. Nothing ever eventuated. [It] was far from being real."
Counsel assisting the commission, Stephen Rushton, SC, asked: "If they were in fact at Homebush on September 28 ... and the only missing factor was that you didn't turn up, doesn't that suggest that they were ready to do the job?"
"[I was going] to meet with them to discuss about this woman, that's the best I can recollect right now," Laycock said.
The officer, who confessed on Friday to his involvement in scams and tipping off police suspects, said his memory was clouded after a trying weekend.
"I've had a fairly stressful weekend. I don't think you can begin to imagine the impact that the press and the media releases had on myself, my immediate family, my extended family ... All I can do is tell you the truth and what I can recollect, that's all."
His father, retired assistant commissioner John Laycock, sat in the public gallery at the hearing, occasionally shaking his head.
The commission heard intercepted telephone conversations between Walker and Shagaev, in which the Russian asked Walker to speak to his contact to help a friend who had been charged with serious offences.
Laycock admitted he might have passed on police information about the case, but denied receiving payment for it.
Mr Rushton: "Of course, one of the things you also made clear to him, I suggest, is that if this particular person was to use their passport, and endeavour to flee the jurisdiction, they weren't going to be pinged at the airport?"
Laycock: "I don't recall saying that."
Well, that's certainly something that Chris Walker seems to have conveyed to Mr Shagaev, though, isn't it? - ... Well, he's a former police officer. He knows how things work.
October 12, 2004
A senior Sydney police officer who has admitted taking money for tipping off a child porn suspect had also been planning to kidnap criminals and extort money from them, the Police Integrity Commission heard yesterday.
The officer and his associates had three possible targets - a former drug dealer who was said to have $500,000 buried in his backyard, a drug-dealing couple and an Asian woman who had been involved in a fraud.
But the plan fell through two weeks ago, on the day it was to be carried out, when Sergeant Christopher John Laycock was summonsed by the commission.
A witness, codenamed CB3, told the commission's inquiry into Laycock's activities he had discussed the plans with a friend, Jahangir Shagaev, who had boasted to him about a senior police contact in the Burwood region. CB3 had never met the officer.
Shagaev, nicknamed "the Russian", was introduced to Laycock by Laycock's former police partner, Chris Walker.
Laycock said Shagaev had purported "to have some contact in the Russian community ... the Russian mafia" and "to be some big gangster".
CB3 said he had been told the target would by the Asian woman, who lived in Homebush. He waited for Shagaev to meet the police contact on September 28, but the man failed to show up. He later learnt the man had been contacted by the commission.
Laycock admitted in evidence yesterday he "might have" discussed plans to extort money with Shagaev, but said the plan was not to "kidnap" people, but just to "grab hold" of them. "All it was was talk. Nothing ever eventuated. [It] was far from being real."
Counsel assisting the commission, Stephen Rushton, SC, asked: "If they were in fact at Homebush on September 28 ... and the only missing factor was that you didn't turn up, doesn't that suggest that they were ready to do the job?"
"[I was going] to meet with them to discuss about this woman, that's the best I can recollect right now," Laycock said.
The officer, who confessed on Friday to his involvement in scams and tipping off police suspects, said his memory was clouded after a trying weekend.
"I've had a fairly stressful weekend. I don't think you can begin to imagine the impact that the press and the media releases had on myself, my immediate family, my extended family ... All I can do is tell you the truth and what I can recollect, that's all."
His father, retired assistant commissioner John Laycock, sat in the public gallery at the hearing, occasionally shaking his head.
The commission heard intercepted telephone conversations between Walker and Shagaev, in which the Russian asked Walker to speak to his contact to help a friend who had been charged with serious offences.
Laycock admitted he might have passed on police information about the case, but denied receiving payment for it.
Mr Rushton: "Of course, one of the things you also made clear to him, I suggest, is that if this particular person was to use their passport, and endeavour to flee the jurisdiction, they weren't going to be pinged at the airport?"
Laycock: "I don't recall saying that."
Well, that's certainly something that Chris Walker seems to have conveyed to Mr Shagaev, though, isn't it? - ... Well, he's a former police officer. He knows how things work.
Officer planned to kidnap alleged criminals
A senior Sydney police officer who has admitted taking money for tipping off a child porn suspect had also been planning to kidnap criminals and extort money from them, the Police Integrity Commission heard yesterday.
The officer and his associates had three possible targets - a former drug dealer who was said to have $500,000 buried in his backyard, a drug-dealing couple and an Asian woman who had been involved in a fraud.
But the plan fell through two weeks ago, on the day it was to be carried out, when Sergeant Christopher John Laycock was summonsed by the commission.
A witness, codenamed CB3, told the commission's inquiry into Laycock's activities he had discussed the plans with a friend, Jahangir Shagaev, who had boasted to him about a senior police contact in the Burwood region. CB3 had never met the officer.
Shagaev, nicknamed "the Russian", was introduced to Laycock by Laycock's former police partner, Chris Walker.
Laycock said Shagaev had purported "to have some contact in the Russian community ... the Russian mafia" and "to be some big gangster".
[Russian? Would you believe the parliament house mafia? You wouldn't believe the Police Selective Commission would you?]
By Geesche Jacobsen 12 October 04
A witness, codenamed CB3, told the commission's inquiry into Laycock's activities he had discussed the plans with a friend, Jahangir Shagaev, who had boasted to him about a senior police contact in the Burwood region. CB3 had never met the officer.
Shagaev, nicknamed "the Russian", was introduced to Laycock by Laycock's former police partner, Chris Walker.
Laycock said Shagaev had purported "to have some contact in the Russian community ... the Russian mafia" and "to be some big gangster".
[Russian? Would you believe the parliament house mafia? You wouldn't believe the Police Selective Commission would you?]
By Geesche Jacobsen 12 October 04
Monday, October 11, 2004
Policeman rubbishes kidnap, extortion talk
A suspended Sydney police officer has admitted to the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) that he proposed kidnapping and extorting money from people,
Christopher John Laycock said he was not serious about the proposals.
The 33-year-old testified that it was "rubbish talk" and "far from being real".
Counsel assisting the Commission, Stephen Rushton SC, has told the hearing that Laycock enlisted the help of a man, described as a gangster linked to the Russian mafia, to kidnap and extort money from people.
The Commission was told of three separate plots.
The policeman has admitted that he had spoken about the idea, but said he did not recall the word kidnapped being used and instead referred to the proposal as "grabbing" people.
Mr Rushton SC detailed a plan to "grab" an Asian woman from her western Sydney home.
The Commission heard she was involved in fraud and that it was believed money was stockpiled in her home.
Laycock said he had no details about it.
The Commission was told the extortion plot was planned for the same day the officer was served with a summons from the Commission.
The officer's father, retired Assistant Commissioner John Laycock sat in the public gallery during today's hearing.
The hearing has been adjourned.
Sunday, October 10, 2004
Salvo porn accused 'wanted to see what his clients saw'
By John Kidman and Eamonn Duff
October 10, 2004
The Sun-Herald
A volunteer youth worker who has been implicated in the nation's ongoing child-pornography scandal has allegedly told police his compulsion began as a "study project" to help him better understand his "clients".
Prosecutors will claim that the Salvation Army volunteer from Sydney's west began downloading explicit images of children from the internet almost two years ago.
But what started as informal "research" allegedly developed into a "morbid fascination".
"When he was interviewed, he said he initially just wanted to see what life was like from his clients' point of view," a senior police source said.
"While conceding that the images disgusted him, he said he couldn't stop himself from looking at them."
It is understood taskforce detectives say they have so far recovered dozens of pictures allegedly of young girls engaged in sexual acts from files on the accused man's home computer.
Although yet to be tested in court, the allegations provide the first possible insight into what has become Australia's largest ever investigation involving child sex.
So far, 200 men have been charged by Operation Auxin officers with downloading more than 2 million images nationwide.
NSW Police have seized more than 100,000 pictures and cyber clips - some from PCs belonging to school teachers, clergymen and other professionals with access to children.
Police Commissioner Ken Moroney has already publicly declared his despair over having two of his officers snared in the probe, including a detective employed by the force's elite Child Protection Squad.
However, this was followed yesterday by explosive revelations at the NSW Police Integrity Commission when a serving detective admitted tipping off an Auxin target.
The PIC was told that Detective Sergeant Christopher Laycock, the son of recently retired Assistant Commissioner John Laycock, extorted $4000 from the target after warning him his house was to be raided.
The emotional fallout from Auxin continued to be felt yesterday.
"You can appreciate this is very hard for us and it is difficult for me to say anything right now," the father of the accused Sydney youth worker told The Sun-Herald.
The man's lawyer also declined to comment, saying only that "people who are charged with things of this nature are usually very troubled". She said the man did not want to comment to the media.
It has also been revealed that a young Sydney woman was left to discover that her father was an Auxin suspect when detectives knocked on the door of her family home while her parents were away overseas.
The 57-year-old Eastwood man has since been charged with accessing at least five illicit websites over a two-year period.
The man's wife, asked yesterday by The Sun-Herald whether she had been aware that her own credit card had allegedly been used to subscribe to some of the material, said she had "had no idea" about this.
"You should speak to my husband," she said. "I think . . . he's the one you want."
When the accused man arrived home he angrily declined to be interviewed. "I don't have to talk to you," he said. " Mind your own business."
Six men so far linked to Operation Auxin have committed suicide.
Image: Warrant during a raid as part of Operation Auxin in Sydney this week. The man in the picture is unidentified.
Photo: NSW Police
October 10, 2004
The Sun-Herald
 |
A volunteer youth worker who has been implicated in the nation's ongoing child-pornography scandal has allegedly told police his compulsion began as a "study project" to help him better understand his "clients".
Prosecutors will claim that the Salvation Army volunteer from Sydney's west began downloading explicit images of children from the internet almost two years ago.
But what started as informal "research" allegedly developed into a "morbid fascination".
"When he was interviewed, he said he initially just wanted to see what life was like from his clients' point of view," a senior police source said.
"While conceding that the images disgusted him, he said he couldn't stop himself from looking at them."
It is understood taskforce detectives say they have so far recovered dozens of pictures allegedly of young girls engaged in sexual acts from files on the accused man's home computer.
Although yet to be tested in court, the allegations provide the first possible insight into what has become Australia's largest ever investigation involving child sex.
So far, 200 men have been charged by Operation Auxin officers with downloading more than 2 million images nationwide.
NSW Police have seized more than 100,000 pictures and cyber clips - some from PCs belonging to school teachers, clergymen and other professionals with access to children.
Police Commissioner Ken Moroney has already publicly declared his despair over having two of his officers snared in the probe, including a detective employed by the force's elite Child Protection Squad.
However, this was followed yesterday by explosive revelations at the NSW Police Integrity Commission when a serving detective admitted tipping off an Auxin target.
The PIC was told that Detective Sergeant Christopher Laycock, the son of recently retired Assistant Commissioner John Laycock, extorted $4000 from the target after warning him his house was to be raided.
The emotional fallout from Auxin continued to be felt yesterday.
"You can appreciate this is very hard for us and it is difficult for me to say anything right now," the father of the accused Sydney youth worker told The Sun-Herald.
The man's lawyer also declined to comment, saying only that "people who are charged with things of this nature are usually very troubled". She said the man did not want to comment to the media.
It has also been revealed that a young Sydney woman was left to discover that her father was an Auxin suspect when detectives knocked on the door of her family home while her parents were away overseas.
The 57-year-old Eastwood man has since been charged with accessing at least five illicit websites over a two-year period.
The man's wife, asked yesterday by The Sun-Herald whether she had been aware that her own credit card had allegedly been used to subscribe to some of the material, said she had "had no idea" about this.
"You should speak to my husband," she said. "I think . . . he's the one you want."
When the accused man arrived home he angrily declined to be interviewed. "I don't have to talk to you," he said. " Mind your own business."
Six men so far linked to Operation Auxin have committed suicide.
Image: Warrant during a raid as part of Operation Auxin in Sydney this week. The man in the picture is unidentified.
Photo: NSW Police
Saturday, October 9, 2004
Detective tipped off child porn suspect
By Malcolm Brown
October 9, 2004
Page Tools
A detective admitted to the Police Integrity Commission yesterday he had tipped off a suspect in the national crackdown on child pornography last month that he was about to be raided and had taken $3900 from him as payment.
Detective Sergeant Christopher John Laycock, 33, son of a former assistant commissioner, John Laycock, who retired about two weeks ago, also admitted that for eight years he had been extorting money from criminals.
Commissioner Terry Griffin was holding the first hearings in Operation Cobalt, an inquiry into Sergeant Laycock's activities and of those associated with him.
Sergeant Laycock said that since 1986 he and a group of accomplices, including a career criminal and a former police officer, had visited criminals, said they were police and "stamped" them for money in return for not being charged.
Laycock, a father of four, said that on September 24 he had gone with a known criminal, David Hopes, to the home of the child porn suspect and told him his home would be raided two days later.
Stephen Rushton SC, counsel assisting the inquiry, asked whether Laycock and Hopes had "stamped him for about $3900". Sergeant Laycock replied "Yes".
You went out there on the Friday, and the search as you understood it was to take place on the Monday? - I think so, yes.
That was to give him an opportunity to get rid of anything on his hard drive that might be incriminating? - I think so, yes.
Did you give him advice about his credit card? - I may have done.
Laycock said he had joined the police in 1989 and had worked at stations at Ashfield, Newtown and Burwood.
He had been involved in criminal investigation from 1997 till 2001 but had been on restricted duties for two years due to a back problem and was now suspended.
Mr Rushton showed a surveillance video taken on July 22 this year when Laycock and several associates had visited the home unit in Chiswick of a man codenamed CB1. Laycock agreed he was there.
He said that on occasions he had produced a fake search warrant. This time he had shown a warrant and done a search, in which he found $20,000 in cash.
He had later told CB1 that a television set in the unit had been reported stolen and that to escape charges he would have to give Laycock and some of his associates part of the money. He had taken $10,000, which he and his associates had divided up.
He agreed that between July 15 and 30 his wife had paid $6000 into his bank account but he did not know whether all or part of it had been the proceeds from CB1.
Giving evidence, CB1 said he had been confronted when he got to his car park by three men, who had told him they were police and investigating him in relation to stolen cash and jewellery. They had then asked to search his unit.
He said he had been shown a search warrant but had not studied it because he was upset.
He had told the searchers he had bought the television cheaply through an advertisement and that it could be stolen. But when asked about the money, he had insisted the $20,000 was his father's long-service pay and not the proceeds of crime.
Laycock had said: "I am a merchant seaman, I know the world. How much are you prepared to part with?" He had then handed over the $10,000. The hearing resumes on Monday.
October 9, 2004
Page Tools
Detective Sergeant Christopher John Laycock, 33, son of a former assistant commissioner, John Laycock, who retired about two weeks ago, also admitted that for eight years he had been extorting money from criminals.
Commissioner Terry Griffin was holding the first hearings in Operation Cobalt, an inquiry into Sergeant Laycock's activities and of those associated with him.
Sergeant Laycock said that since 1986 he and a group of accomplices, including a career criminal and a former police officer, had visited criminals, said they were police and "stamped" them for money in return for not being charged.
Laycock, a father of four, said that on September 24 he had gone with a known criminal, David Hopes, to the home of the child porn suspect and told him his home would be raided two days later.
Stephen Rushton SC, counsel assisting the inquiry, asked whether Laycock and Hopes had "stamped him for about $3900". Sergeant Laycock replied "Yes".
You went out there on the Friday, and the search as you understood it was to take place on the Monday? - I think so, yes.
That was to give him an opportunity to get rid of anything on his hard drive that might be incriminating? - I think so, yes.
Did you give him advice about his credit card? - I may have done.
Laycock said he had joined the police in 1989 and had worked at stations at Ashfield, Newtown and Burwood.
He had been involved in criminal investigation from 1997 till 2001 but had been on restricted duties for two years due to a back problem and was now suspended.
Mr Rushton showed a surveillance video taken on July 22 this year when Laycock and several associates had visited the home unit in Chiswick of a man codenamed CB1. Laycock agreed he was there.
He said that on occasions he had produced a fake search warrant. This time he had shown a warrant and done a search, in which he found $20,000 in cash.
He had later told CB1 that a television set in the unit had been reported stolen and that to escape charges he would have to give Laycock and some of his associates part of the money. He had taken $10,000, which he and his associates had divided up.
He agreed that between July 15 and 30 his wife had paid $6000 into his bank account but he did not know whether all or part of it had been the proceeds from CB1.
Giving evidence, CB1 said he had been confronted when he got to his car park by three men, who had told him they were police and investigating him in relation to stolen cash and jewellery. They had then asked to search his unit.
He said he had been shown a search warrant but had not studied it because he was upset.
He had told the searchers he had bought the television cheaply through an advertisement and that it could be stolen. But when asked about the money, he had insisted the $20,000 was his father's long-service pay and not the proceeds of crime.
Laycock had said: "I am a merchant seaman, I know the world. How much are you prepared to part with?" He had then handed over the $10,000. The hearing resumes on Monday.
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