Men cleared of fake informer plot

John Haase has been convicted for his part in the conspiracy

Two men accused of duping authorities into thinking two jailed drug-smugglers were informants have been acquitted.

Kenneth Darcy, 50, and John Thompson, 45, both of Liverpool, were cleared at Inner London Crown Court of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

It was claimed that they staged crime scenes between 1993 and 1995 which John Haase, 59, and his nephew Paul Bennett, 44, then described to police.

They wanted a cut in their jail terms in return for turning police informers.

Semtex explosives

The court was told that Mr Haase and Mr Bennett hatched a plot behind bars in 1993 to con the authorities into thinking they had turned on the underworld, and gave police information on fake crimes.

Haase and Bennett had been serving 18-year sentences for drug-smuggling.

As part of the plan to free them, the prosecution alleged Mr Darcy disclosed to a Daily Mirror reporter that he had buried Semtex explosives at Haydock Racecourse and planted weapons.

Police then made 35 seizures across Liverpool.

The defence barristers for Mr Darcy, of Plumtree Close, Stockbridge Village, Liverpool, and Thompson, of Eaton Court, Liverpool, said their clients were used as scapegoats by Haase and Bennett.

Thompson was cleared of an extra charge of possession of ammunition, but was found guilty of possession of a firearm.

He was sentenced to four years in prison.

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