Police auctioned Exhibit A |
| A suspected burglar had his | |  |
| case thrown out of court after a | |
| judge was told that the police | |
| had accidentally sold the | |
| evidence (Exhibit A). | |
| Peter Rafferty, 54, from | |
| Birmingham, had been charged | |
| with going equipped for burglary | |
| after he was arrested in Bilston | |
| carrying items including a drill | |
| and gloves. But after telling | |
| Stafford Crown Court that the | |
| items had been sold, the | |
| prosecution could offer no other | | It is understood that an officer |
| evidence. | | put the items forward for auction |
| Rafferty had denied the | | without realising they were needed. |
| allegation, so, a verdict of ‘not | | West Midlands Police said the |
| guilty’ was entered and he was | | officer had been disciplined. |
| discharged. | | |
