Policeman jailed for drug dealer tip-offs

Published on Thursday 29 May 2008 00:55

A POLICEMAN caught tipping off a drug dealing friend was jailed for more than three years yesterday.

William Hosie, an officer with Tayside Police, admitted passing information and advice to a drug pusher.

The 28-year-old was caught after a raid on childhood friend Raymond Rudkin's home in Dundee in May 2007.

Judge Lord Brailsford sentenced Hosie to three years and nine months at the High Court in Edinburgh. He told him: "This is a gross breach of trust in the discharge of your duties as a police officer. That is a very serious matter and a very serious criminal offence."

Hosie, from Dundee, joined Tayside Police in 1999 and in March 2007 became involved in drugs operations. Colleagues became suspicious of his relationship with suspected local pusher Rudkin and bugged a police car. Hosie was recorded giving the suspect advice on a police probe into his dealings.

The officer was heard telling Rudkin he "didn't have time" to warn him that the police were going to his house with a search warrant.