Policemen sacked after trying to frame squatter on drugs charge

Sergeant Marcus Garvey and Pc Wayne Campbell threw cannabis-smoking Ben Thacker off their patch in Greenwich, south east London, in January 2008.

But when he appeared in court accused of possessing cannabis the case was thrown out and the spotlight shone on their actions.

Mr Thacker revealed he had recorded evidence on a voice recorder hidden in his pocket, and the two men later lied about the circumstances.

Garvey and Campbell, based at Eltham Police Station, were acquitted of perverting the course of justice by a jury in May last year but an internal police misconduct hearing concluded they deliberately gave inaccurate accounts of the arrest and used unlawful force.

The arrest took place on January 26, 2008, at a house in Tudway Road, Kidbrooke, south-east London.

The officers claimed that Mr Thacker was searched outside the house, the drugs were found in his pocket and they broke in to make sure that no-one was inside the house. But the voice recording revealed Mr Thacker was actually inside the house, the door was smashed down to catch him and the cannabis was found in a room.