Policeman faces stiffer sentence over tip-offs to drug dealer

A POLICEMAN caught tipping off a drug-dealing friend faces a stiff sentence after his case was sent to Scotland's highest criminal court yesterday.

William Hosie, an officer with Tayside Police, admitted passing confidential information to a drug pusher. Hosie, 28, of Dundee, was caught after a raid on the home of Raymond Rudkin, a childhood friend, in May 2007. Colleagues had become suspicious of his relationship with the suspected criminal and bugged a police car.

Hosie – nicknamed Don Beech by the dealer after a crooked policeman on the TV show The Bill – was heard giving him advice and details of the police's position.

The sheriff said yesterday that he did not have sufficient powers to deal with the seriousness of the offence and would remit sentencing to the High Court.

Sheriff Thomas Hughes said: "The public looks to the services of law and order to protect them. You have failed to protect the public."