A corrupt detective has been jailed after he falsified evidence in a drug trafficking investigation which almost led to an innocent woman being thrown behind bars for crimes she did not commit.
Jye Symes, 37, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment in Melbourne's County Court on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to one charge of engaging in misconduct in public office.
The ex-detective had been leading a Victoria Police operation investigating an international drug ring that was trafficking illegal drugs and sending them inside children's toys through the post in 2019.
Major drug squad detectives had identified a property in Cairnlea in Melbourne's northwest as a drug safe house, with a police search discovering a pair of gloves in the drug preparation area and several envelopes which they suspected was used in the operation.
A man arrested and charged over the drug operation has pleaded guilty to the offences after lab analysis indicated his DNA matched that found on the gloves.
The victim, a woman, who was registered as a tenant of the property but was not present at the time of the police search, was also arrested, interviewed and had her DNA taken for analysis.
Symes told his sergeant he had submitted her DNA for testing, but that process never occurred and her sample was destroyed after a year, the court was told.
He doctored an electronic document to indicate the woman's DNA was found on the glove and a forensic statement to suggest her handwriting matched that on the envelopes.
She was charged with drugs offences.
The case was brought before the Magistrates Court where the corrupt detective continued to provide the false documents to implicate the woman in the crime.
Only after the victim's lawyers asked for more details from the forensic biologist was the deception was uncovered.
Prosecutors subsequently withdrew all charges against the woman.
Judge Michael Cahill, in his sentencing, said Symes' admission to making false representations to the victim, legal representatives and the court, breached his duty as a police officer which eroded the public's trust in the force.
"The consequences of your offending were very serious," he said.
"Police officers exercise considerable power over public ... you seriously abused that power."
The woman had faced up to 25 years in prison on the false charges, the judge said.
"Had she been wrongly convicted, she would've been at risk of several years in prison," he said.
The judge said Symes has experienced anxiety and depression from being exposed to trauma witnessed on the job and that had compromised his actions in his offending.
The former officer will be eligible for parole after 18 months having already serving 11 days in pre-sentence detention.
He was supported in court by his wife.
