The crime of armed robbery had been brought to a state almost of perfection in the 1970s thanks to police corruption, a new documentary reveals.
The final episode in BBC series Bent Coppers: Crossing the Line of Duty, which airs this evening, reveals how one of London s most senior police officers was believed to have helped suppress investigations and even took cuts of robbers ill-gotten gains.
Commander Hugh Moore, who was the third most senior officer in the City of London Police, was allegedly the greatest villain unhung , a fellow corrupt officer said.
Moore, who died from heart failure in 1993 while attempting an arrest, was described as a greedy b d by bent detective Phil Cuthbert, who talked of a £175,000 robbery on the Daily Express s payroll van in 1976 being a Hughie Moore job .
First published on Thu 8 Apr 2021 10.11 EDT
One of London’s most senior police officers, described by a colleague as “the greatest villain unhung”, was believed to be involved in major corruption in the 1970s but never prosecuted, according to a new documentary on police malpractice.
Former officers who exposed corruption at the time describe how they were threatened that they would end up in a “cement raincoat” if they informed on fellow officers and were shunned by colleagues when they did.
The fresh revelations come from half a dozen former officers from both the Metropolitan and City of London police forces, including one who has admitted receiving payments. The claims are made in a three-part documentary series about the widespread acceptance of bribes that led to the setting up of the anti-corruption unit A10, on which Line of Duty’s fictional AC-12 is based.