Detective Sergeant Richard de Cadenet misused more than £73,000 on a credit card issued to him by the Metropolitan police

Detective Sergeant Richard de Cadenet, 39, who worked on high-profile investigations including the 7/7 bomb attacks on London, misused more than £73,000 on a credit card issued to him by the Metropolitan police, Southwark crown court heard.He was issued with the card for legitimate police expenses but used it for his own personal spending, including a holiday in Thailand worth £6,452 and a holiday in Mexico worth more than £9,000, as well as thousands of pounds worth of clothes, electrical goods and supermarket purchases. The court heard he made cash withdrawals of up to £18,000 and used the card to pay for a box at a Premiership football ground in which his estranged father had been entertained, along with others.De Cadenet was arrested after an Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation and pleaded guilty in July to one count of misfeasance in public office.David Levy, prosecuting, said Metropolitan police policy had been for officers to use the credit cards to pay for legitimate expenses such as hotel bills and travelling while working outside the Metropolitan police district.He said officers were supposed to submit a monthly reconciliation of expenditure to the Metropolitan Police Authority but De Cadenet, who joined the force from the RAF in 1996, had failed to do this. Neil Saunders, defending, said De Cadenet had been in marital difficulties and developed a drinking problem. He had racked up substantial debts on his own personal credit card.
Saunders said De Cadenet had been trying to "buy the affections" of those who were closest to him in the misuse of the card. "He was buying what he thought was attention and affection. He was a man who was simply unable to cope."The IPCC said de Cadenet's actions were a serious misuse of public money. Deborah Glass, the London commissioner for the IPCC, said: "The taxpayers of London will rightly be concerned. I hope today's sentence reassures them that abuse of the system will not be tolerated."