A respected life-long
fireman's career is on the brink after a police raid on his home
found cocaine, cannabis and an electric stun gun.
John Chart, 47, was
arrested on October 12, 2015 at the address in Bouverie Lodge,
Rectory Road, Beckenham, but was only sentenced this week after
fighting the case for two-and-a-half years.
The amateur power
lifter had been suspected of supplying anabolic steroids, but no charges were proved regarding the muscle-boosting drugs.
Chart claims he is the
victim of a 'witch hunt' within the London Fire Brigade (LFB) after
making a complaint of bullying and was set up.
However, following a
Croydon Crown Court trial he was convicted of possessing just under
10 gms of cocaine, 50 gms of cannabis and the stun gun, which he said
a visitor had left behind at his home.
Last November he was
sentenced for selling stolen clothing on eBay.
The father-of-four, who
once saved a colleagues life, is just three years short of full-term
service for retirement purposes and will also face disciplinary
proceedings within the LFB.
He was charged six
months after the search has been suspended from service ever since.
Police acting on a
tip-off also raided Chart's girlfriend's home simultaneously, which
the fireman maintains was the result of a 'vendetta' within the LFB
against him.
The cocaine was
discovered in the glove compartment of his van, parked outside the
address and the cannabis in his kitchen.
The stun gun, which was
not charged, and had been left behind after a demonstration by
another fireman a year earlier and was in the bedroom of the address,
which Chart's mother was using at the time.
He was sentenced to 100
hours community service and ordered to pay £750 costs.
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