Drug dealing cops?
anticorruption
By Liza Kappelle
05jul02
ONE of six police officers accused of stealing an invalid pensioner's
morphine medication has denied seeing any evidence of police
corruption during his 16-year career.
Gavin Farrell, who resigned after allegations he and five others
conspired to steal 950 morphine tablets from a pensioner, was giving
evidence at Western Australia's police royal commission.
Counsel Assisting the Commission Peter Hastings, QC, asked Mr Farrell
if he had ever engaged in corrupt, criminal or improper behaviour
while he was an officer.
"Never," Mr Farrell replied.
He also denied ever seeing other officers engaged in assaults, verbal
intimidation, falsifying records, criminal behaviour or corruption.
Peter Momber, the lawyer representing the so-called Kalgoorlie Six,
has said his clients hope to clear their names at the commission.
Mr Farrell and Geoffrey O'Reilly, both former detective sergeants,
brothers Michael and Kevin Reilly, both former detective senior
sergeants, Silvio Cinquina, a detective sergent, and Paul O'Keefe, a
senior constable, have all been accused by a police informant of drug
trafficking.
The Reilly brothers were sacked after the alleged 1998 morphine theft,
Mr Farrell and Mr O'Reilly resigned, and the other two are still
working.
Mr Farrell was questioned over his relationship in 1998 and 1999 with
Christos Trifon - the man who told police internal affairs that some
Kalgoorlie police were selling drugs.
Mr Trifon derailed a sting by stealing money he was given to "buy" the
drugs.
Mr Farrell was played secretly-recorded tapes of his conversations
with Mr Trifon, in which he was heard promising to give information
about the identity and address of a man seen parked outside the house
of Trifon's "missus".
He denied having passed on the information.
The inquiry continues.