Accused of being gangster Allan Foster’s paid police insider told a court he had been foolish to become friends with the drug baron and killer.

Accused of being gangster Allan Foster’s paid police insider told a court he had been foolish to become friends with the drug baron and killer.But John Jones denied he had ever done anything illegal or corrupt.He rubbished accusations that he had snorted cocaine and was treated to an evening with an escort girl during a wild night with Foster in London.At Newcastle Crown Court, he claimed he thought the convicted drug dealer – who is still on the run after the murder of David “Noddy” Rice in a South Shields car park in 2006 – had walked away from crime.“I didn’t realise he was going to murder somebody,” Jones told investigators. “I thought he was a mate who was a reformed character and wanted to get on with his life.”Jones, 47, had been attached to Northumbria Police’s Crime Operations Department. The court heard he had recruited Foster as a police informer before passing him on to the National Crime Squad.The pair became friends while training at the same County Durham gym, the court heard.Jones told investigators during an interview he had never accepted cash or gifts to cover Foster’s back by scanning police intelligence files.And although he accepted he had been shopping and drinking with Foster during a trip to London, he said the trip had been “a one-off” and he’d done nothing illegal.“I totally deny taking or having anything to do with cocaine,” Jones said after he was arrested in his Land Rover Discovery on June 6, 2007.“I wasn’t using escorts. It had nothing to do with me.”Jones claimed the London trip was the only time he had socialised with Foster away from the gym.He told officers he realised he had made a mistake by letting a friendship develop.“I was foolish, but there was no criminal intent,” Jones said. “I wasn’t doing anything wrong.“I will be honest, I did like the lad. I got on well with him.“We appeared to have lots in common. There was never a break in conversation.“He was always pleasant to be with. Hands up, I have been a fool, stupid.”Prosecutors say Foster, 32, assassinated Rice – one of his dealers – weeks after his contact with Jones came to an end because the detective failed to tip him off about a raid at one of his homes.Jones denies charges of misconduct in a public office between March 2003 and June 2007.Co-accused Bruce McCall, 42, a gym owner from Seaham, County Durham, denies aiding and abetting Jones as well as drug charges.

Posted in: Northumbria Police’s Crime Operations Department