Avon and Somerset Police officer jailed for stealing cash on duty

A debt-ridden police officer who stole cash while on duty has been jailed for 10 months.

Tim Silverwood, 45, was caught taking £2,750 and 500 euros in a covert police sting.

He was dismissed from the force at an Avon and Somerset Police misconduct hearing last week.

Sentencing Silverwood at Bristol Crown Court, Judge Mark Horton described his actions as "shameful" and a "grotesque error of judgement".

Silverwood was on duty in Bridgwater on 16 October when he was approached by a woman who he thought was a member of the public and handed what he thought was a stolen bag found in a lay-by.

He was told it had money in it, some of which he stole.

The court heard the woman who handed him the money was an undercover officer with the police's professional standards department.

Silverwood later told officers he did not know why he had stolen the money, but denied his £40,000 debts were his motive.

The court heard he had been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after attending a sudden death.

In a statement read out by his barrister in court, Silverwood said he "regrets deeply what's happened".

"Not only have I let myself family and friends down, but I realise the impact this has on people's lives," he said.

Silverwood pleaded guilty to theft at a hearing at Bristol Magistrates' Court in June.

Sentencing him, Judge Horton said: "When a police officer decides to steal the money from a member of the public he is the one person society should be able to trust.

"The money could have been some essential lost money from someone who was vulnerable.

"It was handed to you because you were the one person in society they could trust."