 A bent copper known as 'The Sheriff of Soho' has been jailed for more than seven years after taking bribes worth thousands of pounds while policing bars and restaurants across the West End. Frank Partridge, 50, accepted a luxury family holiday to Morocco worth almost £7,000, tickets to exclusive events including a party held by Elton John, and renovation work to his home worth nearly £8,000 while working in the Westminster Licensing Unit between 2013 and 2015. The former Met Police sergeant was responsible for consulting with town hall bosses over applications for licensed premises and supervising venues to ensure they were complying with conditions. But Southwark Crown Court heard he formed an 'unprofessional and inappropriately close' relationship with people linked to West End nightclubs and security firms, including Cirque le Soir nightclub owner Ryan Bishti. Detectives found a video of him being whipped by a dominatrix dressed as Catwoman on Mr Bishti's phone, jurors were told, with the club owner later texting a friend saying he had an 'ace card'. Prosecutor Philip Evans KC told them: 'Those relationships directly benefitted Frank Partridge financially and the individuals because they had someone with Frank Partridge's powers in their pocket.' Partridge was found guilty of four counts of bribery and cleared of a further count of bribery by a jury on July 12. Patrick Gibbs KC, defending, said Partridge became 'bedazzled by the glitz and glamour of this lifestyle'. Citing the six and a half year delay between his arrest and charge, he said: 'You are sentencing today a man who isn't the same man who committed the offences of which the jury convicted him, partly a function of delay and partly a function of reform and realisation on his part.' Corrupt former Metropolitan Police sergeant Frank Partridge at Southwark Crown Court (Picture: PA) Mr Gibbs added that Partridge will lose his pol){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
A bent copper known as ‘The Sheriff of Soho’ has been jailed for more than seven years after taking bribes worth thousands of pounds while policing bars and restaurants across the West End.
Frank Partridge, 50, accepted a luxury family holiday to Morocco worth almost £7,000, tickets to exclusive events including a party held by Elton John, and renovation work to his home worth nearly £8,000 while working in the Westminster Licensing Unit between 2013 and 2015.
The former Met Police sergeant was responsible for consulting with town hall bosses over applications for licensed premises and supervising venues to ensure they were complying with conditions.
But Southwark Crown Court heard he formed an ‘unprofessional and inappropriately close’ relationship with people linked to West End nightclubs and security firms, including Cirque le Soir nightclub owner Ryan Bishti.