Posted on 01/29/2002 8:30:33 PM PST by Big Bunyip
Taking bribes helped my depression: detective
A Sydney detective today told a NSW police corruption inquiry that accepting bribes had helped lift his depression.
Detective Sergeant Mark Messenger said he had accepted "a couple of hundred dollars" on four occasions from undercover officer M5.
Det Messenger, who is suspended from the police service, said he suffered from depression and taking the money made him feel better.
"I was depressed," he told the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) Operation Florida inquiry.
"For some reason it made me feel better.
"It's something now I don't understand why I did it."
Although the Dee Why-based officer admitted accepting corrupt money, he said he had no intention of resigning.
He said he was applying for a medical discharge on the basis of mental illness and other injuries he had suffered.
The inquiry into police corruption in Manly and the northern beaches continues this afternoon before acting Commissioner Tim Sage.
It wasn't graft, your honor, I was just self-medicating.
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