Kim James, a part-time model and fitness instructor, might have been jailed for drugs dealing if the conspiracy had not been detected through a police surveillance device at the offices of a private investigation agency, said Bruce Houlder QC, prosecuting.
Mrs James was involved in divorce proceedings against her husband, Simon. The drugs find was designed to get her arrested and then discredited in child custody proceedings over their two-year-old son, Mr Houlder said.
Simon James recruited the help of Jonathan Rees, head of the private detective agency Law and Commercial. The drugs were placed in Mrs James's Fiat Punto car by another man, James Cook, the prosecution said.
Austin Warnes, a detective constable, allegedly was also brought into the plot and used his registered police informant, Dave Courtney, to persuade a senior officer that the information about the drugs was genuine.
Warnes, 38, of Bexleyheath, south London, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to pervert the course of justice between May and September last year, the jury was told.
But, Courtney, 41, of Plumstead, south London, James, 34, of Battersea, south London, Rees, 46, of Thornton Heath, south London, and Cook, 45, of Tadworth, Surrey, all deny the charge.
Mr Houlder said the crime had been staged "to see that [Mrs James] was arrested, prosecuted and sent to jail for a long time for that crime which she did not commit".
The aim was custody of the child for her husband.
Mr Houlder said James and Rees "tried to paint Mrs James as some kind of loose woman", who went around West End clubs "peddling drugs".
Mr Houlder told how the estranged husband had met Kim in 1994, married her in June 1995 and divorced her in April 1999 when their son was aged two.
He branded James and Rees as the "heartless instigators" of the alleged plot, saying James had paid Rees a large sum of money for his "dishonest service".
The hearing continues.
Mrs James was involved in divorce proceedings against her husband, Simon. The drugs find was designed to get her arrested and then discredited in child custody proceedings over their two-year-old son, Mr Houlder said.
Simon James recruited the help of Jonathan Rees, head of the private detective agency Law and Commercial. The drugs were placed in Mrs James's Fiat Punto car by another man, James Cook, the prosecution said.
Austin Warnes, a detective constable, allegedly was also brought into the plot and used his registered police informant, Dave Courtney, to persuade a senior officer that the information about the drugs was genuine.
Warnes, 38, of Bexleyheath, south London, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to pervert the course of justice between May and September last year, the jury was told.
But, Courtney, 41, of Plumstead, south London, James, 34, of Battersea, south London, Rees, 46, of Thornton Heath, south London, and Cook, 45, of Tadworth, Surrey, all deny the charge.
Mr Houlder said the crime had been staged "to see that [Mrs James] was arrested, prosecuted and sent to jail for a long time for that crime which she did not commit".
The aim was custody of the child for her husband.
Mr Houlder said James and Rees "tried to paint Mrs James as some kind of loose woman", who went around West End clubs "peddling drugs".
Mr Houlder told how the estranged husband had met Kim in 1994, married her in June 1995 and divorced her in April 1999 when their son was aged two.
He branded James and Rees as the "heartless instigators" of the alleged plot, saying James had paid Rees a large sum of money for his "dishonest service".
The hearing continues.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2000/nov/14/keithperry1
