Man 'told gun lies to make money'

John Haase has been convicted for his part in the conspiracy

A man invented his part in a conspiracy which conned authorities into believing that two drug smugglers were police informants, a court heard.

Kenneth Darcy told Inner London Crown Court he made the "confession" to a Sunday Mirror journalist to make money.

The court heard Mr Darcy told reporter Gavin Whitfield he planted weapons and explosives around Liverpool as part of a scam to get the two men out of jail.

The 50-year-old denies conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Mr Darcy, of Plum Tree Close, Stockbridge Village, Liverpool, is on trial with John Thompson, of Eton Court, Liverpool, who also denies the charge.

The court has heard that John Haase, 59, and his nephew Paul Bennett, 44, hatched a plot behind bars in 1993 to con the authorities into thinking they had turned on the underworld.

It is quite elaborate fiction if you made it up Gibson Grenfell, prosecuting

As a result of the information they passed on, police made 35 seizures - but they were all planted by associates of Haase on Merseyside.

The pair's 18-year jail terms were cut to five years and after time spent on remand was taken into consideration they were released after only a year.

Darcy told the court: "We had to make the story up for the press to pay us any money... The bigger story the more money I thought."

Asked by prosecutor Gibson Grenfell how much he hoped to make, Mr Darcy replied: "I wouldn't say hundreds of thousands but I'd say thousands."

Gun charge

Mr Darcy told the reporter he bought guns from West Midlands and North Wales police officers to plant around Merseyside.

He told the court on Wednesday this was all lies, but did not choose to tell the police upon his arrest.

Mr Grenfell said the reason he had not told officers of the deception was because much of his confession was actually true.

He said: "It is quite elaborate fiction if you made it up."

Haase and a number of others have been convicted for their part in the conspiracy.

Mr Thompson also denies a charge of possessing five 9mm automatic machine pistols without authority as well as a similar offence involving a quantity of ammunition.

The trial continues.

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