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UK Police Paid Over $27Mln to Informants Over Five Years

© AFP 2023 / Leon NealDeputy Commissioner of Britain's Metropolitan Police Craig Mackey (3rd R) leads police officers in a two minute silence outside Scotland Yard in London, on January 8, 2015.
Deputy Commissioner of Britain's Metropolitan Police Craig Mackey (3rd R) leads police officers in a two minute silence outside Scotland Yard in London, on January 8, 2015. - Sputnik International
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UK police paid tens of millions of pounds to informants over the past five years for clues in murder, terrorism and organized crime cases, figures obtained by the BBC broadcaster showed Wednesday.

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MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Data, disclosed to the BBC Radio 5 under the freedom of information act, showed 19.59 million pounds ($24 million) were paid in England and Wales in 2011-2016, more than a quarter of that sum by London's Metropolitan Police.

Further 2 million pounds were spent in Northern Ireland during the same period, while Scottish police paid an estimated 565,248 pounds to informants in 2013-2016.

"This is a well-established and highly regulated, worthwhile, and cost effective tactic, with the money paid to informants being very closely scrutinised," Deputy Chief Constable in Leicestershire Police Roger Bannister told the outlet.

Sums varied from several pounds to thousands, the broadcaster said. It cited a former undercover police officer, Ronnie Howard, as saying that in one case 15,000 pounds were paid over 12 months to recover 3 million pounds worth of cannabis.

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