Thief tried to persuade policeman to 'water down' evidence

Lee Braybrooke, 27, of Riverside Road, Watford, had acquired the information from another stolen lap top and one which belonged to Hertfordshire Police Federation.

In a series of telephone calls to the officer who was due to give evidence against him, Braybrooke said he could sell on the information to interested parties, but if the officer helped secure his acquittal it would disappear.

But on Thursday, August 16, Braybrooke was jailed for three years when he admitted the theft of the first lap top and a second offence of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

St Albans Crown Court was told how the lap top was stolen from a Mercedes parked outside a hotel last June. Braybrooke and another man were responsible and from the hotel they drove to a nearby pub car park where they changed vehicles - only the changeover was caught on CCTV.

Later police examined the footage and an officer was able to identify Braybrooke. He was arrested, charged and bailed to await trial.

When he came into possession of information acquired from another lap top stolen from a car parked in Harpenden, Braybrooke saw a chance to secure his acquittal.

The information related to Herts Police Federation and was described in court as "highly sensitive." Exact details of the information were not given in court but part of it was the name of every serving police officer in the county.

Braybrooke knew the name of the officer who would be giving evidence of identification against him in his trial and decided to contact him in an attempt to get him to water down his evidence, using the information as a lever.

Hertfordshire Police were keen to get the lap top back, but in a series of calls to the officer, Braybrooke was unaware his call was being recorded.

Once more he was arrested and charged with the more serious offence of perverting the course of justice.