Detective's fraud trial told of trip to Dales wedding

Detective Constable Christopher Fernley, 42, allegedly used an American Express charge card issued by the Metropolitan Police to pay for two nights at the Devonshire Arms hotel at Bolton Abbey while he and his wife attended a wedding party.

He charged 746.80 to the card that was intended for police expenses incurred in the course of duty, a jury was told.

Fernley, who dealt with extradition cases for the specialist crime directorate, denies five counts of false accounting over transactions made on the card including one for a French theme park.

John Traversi, prosecuting, said it must have been "abundantly clear" to Fernley that they were personal expenses and not legitimate police expenses.

Mr Traversi told Southwark Crown Court records showed Fernley used the AmEx card to pay for the stay at the Devonshire Arms over the August Bank Holiday in 2006. But he said records of Fernley's hours showed he was on leave over the same period.

"It must have been abundantly clear to DC Fernley, from the nature and amount of the expense, the occasion for which he incurred it, the presence of his wife, the character of the hotel, none of which can have slipped his mind, and from the information and documents that he had in his possession when he filled out the form on December 12, 2007 that this was not legitimate police expenditure but personal expenditure.

"The entry on the 288 (form) was therefore false and he knew it.

"He claimed it as a legitimate police expense in the hope that the real nature of the spend would not be uncovered."

Fernley's AmEx statement also showed 71.62 spent at the Novotel Poitiers Futuroscope theme park in France, the court heard. The prosecution said he had claimed the money as "overnight accommodation France" despite being on leave at the time.

The case continues today.