Corrupt Leeds drug cop must repay over £250,000

A CORRUPT West Yorkshire detective who stole more than £1million of seized drugs to sell on the streets with his brother has been ordered to hand over £257,000 of his ill-gotten gains.

Disgraced detective constable Nicholas McFadden, 39, is serving a 23-year sentence after helping himself to heroin, cocaine and cannabis while working at secret evidence stores.

He and his brother, Simon McFadden, 42, who was jailed for 16 years, made more than £600,000 by selling the drugs back to underworld contacts.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Nicholas, from Castleford, was found guilty of stealing class A and B drugs, including heroin and cocaine, after a five-week trial last April. Both brothers were found guilty of conspiring to supply them.

Simon’s wife Karen, also 42, was handed a suspended jail sentence after admitting money laundering. A confiscation hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act was held at Leeds Crown yesterday in respect of all three defendants. The court heard Nicholas’s total benefit from his offending was £1,102,204. The court heard he now has assets available worth £257,052. He must pay that sum within six months or face a further three years in prison.

Simon, of Harehills, Leeds, was said to have benefitted by £694,976 but has £41,000 of assets available. That sum must also be paid within six months or he will face a sentence of up to 18 months. Karen must pay £28,237 within the same time period or face a 12 month sentence.

The McFaddens lavished much of the cash from the corrupt enterprise on exotic holidays, designer clothes, jewellery, artwork, home improvements and private number plates.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Married Nicholas told friends and family he had received an insurance payout after getting cancer. He gave former partner, police officer Tanya Strangeway, more than £13,000 in cash and an Audi car, claiming he had a windfall after selling his house.

Judge Tom Bayliss told them: “For a brief period, crime paid for your extravagances – but now you have a lifetime to regret it.”