DC Gareth Suffling was caught after making incriminating searches on the police computer just days before he launched a blackmail campaign against the victim
24 HOURS viewers are set to see the moment a sobbing police detective was cuffed at work by his own colleagues over a disturbing case.
Tonight's episode will unravel the shocking downfall of DC Gareth Suffling, who was put behind bars for three years after blackmailing a man who visited a prostitute.
The jaw-dropping investigation was launched after a man told Luton Police officers a threatening envelope containing pictures of himself leaving a motorhome has been left on his car windscreen.
A typed note with the photos demanded £1,000 or his loved ones would be told he had visited a prostitute.
The note, signed 'Light Justice', said: “You have made an error in judgement. A massive error in judgement. The next step is for you to decide.
“On Thursday 16 March between 12.05 and 12.12 you used the services of a prostitute in Sedgewick Road, Luton.
“We’re sure that you will agree that the photographs along with the copies of the website provide quite damning proof of your actions that day.
“Do you really want the people closest to you to know about this?
“You made a bad decision and put your perversions above your family. You will pay £1,000 today.”
Police were gobsmacked to later discover it was their own respected colleague, Detective Constable Gareth Suffling, behind the blackmail plot.
The dramatic footage was originally aired in an episode of Channel 4's 24 Hours In Police Custody in 2018 and the nation watched in shock from the victim’s very first police interview to the moment the DC was caught and arrested.
In the footage, the blackmail victim, a married man, nervously told an officer: “I went online and got the phone number of a prostitute in Luton. She told me she was in a mobile home.
"I went in, I gave her £30, she gave me oral sex. I didn’t think anything of it.”
The episode told how Detective Chief Inspector Jerry Waite and a team at Luton CID, took over the case.
Fellow investigating officer DS Will Taylor said if the victim was willing to use his own cash, they could plant it in order to catch the suspect.
The victim complied and went to the designated drop-off location, where a specialist police surveillance team was monitoring the scene.
Strangely, the lump sum was not picked up by the deadline, but cops remained nearby.
At this stage the unit’s only current line of inquiry was the prostitute, Kirie.
DS Graham McMillan of the Major Crime Unit found her and, her business partner Ian, in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.
She said she was unaware the blackmail, and added: “I pay my taxes, I’ve got an accountant and I do everything above board.
“I’m a limited company so everything is clean. I never want to get in trouble for anything.”
She claimed neither of them saw anyone taking photos near her motorhome that day, and the police were satisfied with her response..
DCI Waite said: “A demand can start out as £1,000. Next week it could be £5,000, £10,000.
“Is it going to be a threat to their family? A wrong decision could totally affect someone’s life.”
DS Taylor urged the victim to call him if he spots anything suspicious, but the victim feared his wife would find out.
“I can say I’m Will from your phone provider. The password will be, ‘I’m calling about your upgrade," DS Taylor told the victim.
Officers continued to monitor the drop-off point but nothing suspicious was been recorded.
At the station, DCI Waite told his team: “We can’t leave the money out there for ever. At some point I’ve got to say whether we missed the boat or not.”
Intelligence officers checked to see if anyone made any recent online search requests about the victim’s personal details.
DCI Waite, who has been in the force for 27 years, said: “In trying to identify a suspect I’d like to say nothing ever surprised me.
“Nine times out of ten you know what’s going to happen and where the case is going to go. However once in a blue moon you are totally shocked at what you find.”
In a shocking twist DCI Waite received news of a break through and detectives were ordered to go into the very surveillance unit working to monitor the drop-off point.
DC Suffling was watching a screen as they enter.
One detective said: “Gareth, you probably know I’ve met you before.
“I’m DS Mark Devine from the Major Crime team. We’re investigating this blackmail today. I’m here to arrest you on suspicion of blackmail.”
As DS Devine read him his rights, Suffling broke down in tears. DS Devine told him: “Now obviously you’re shocked, right, but we don’t come and do this sort of thing for nothing, do we?”
Suffling is cuffed and led away. Detectives discovered he checked the victim’s car registration number on his police computer to find out his address — before the victim even reported the blackmail.
Cameras at the station showed Suffling being taken into custody, and an officer kept watch on him in his cell.
The news quickly spread among Suffling’s disbelieving colleagues.
However, they had noted he was acting strangely while working on the case, looking at his phone and drinking excessive amounts of water.
Meanwhile DCI Waite still had to find more evidence to charge him.
At Suffling’s home, a search team found pictures of the victim, while a torn-up letter was found in the kitchen bin.
An officer put the pieces together and discovered it is a copy of the demand letter.
In was revealed Suffling had been trying to set himself up as a private investigator and was in debt.
Officers analysing CCTV footage from a business near where Kirie’s motorhome was parked that day spotted their suspect.
When questioned, Suffling said: “No comment”, and with the custody clock running out he was suspended from duty and allowed home on bail while investigations continued.
Then, in another surprise twist to the case, the Major Crime Unit received a confession letter via Suffling’s lawyer.
Suffling claimed he did not plan to make any personal gain from the blackmail and was doing it to help a vulnerable prostitute to get into a drug referral scheme.
He also claimed he looked up such drug referral programmes on his phone.
Officers analyse data from Suffling’s phone but couldn't find such evidence in his search history. Instead, they discovered searches for “Crime to make easy money” and “How to make crime pay” as well as porn video sites and the page where Kirie advertised her services.
Following his confession, Suffling was charged.
In September 2017 he pleaded guilty to blackmail and misconduct in a public office at St Albans Crown Court.
He was jailed for 18 months but Bedfordshire Police felt the sentence was too lenient and appealed, after which it was increased to three years by the Court of Appeal.
His colleagues remain baffled by Suffling’s spectacular fall. He had recently received a commendation for his investigation into a child sex abuser who groomed and sexually assaulted six teenage boys.
DS Tom Hamm, who Suffling worked under for 18 months on the case, said: “Gareth was held in such high esteem. No one had a bad word to say about him.
“He was really good at what he chose to do, because he had the knowledge and he had the leadership. He could have gone as high as he wanted, really, so I don’t know why he’s done what he’s done.
“If I had the opportunity to talk to him I think I’d only have one question and it’s just why? That’s it.”
24 Hours In Police Custody will air on Channel 4seven tonight at 12.05am.
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