A former detective who stole more than £85,000 in seized criminal cash from Derbyshire Police has been jailed after an initial £15,000 theft went unnoticed and she began taking money regularly.

Michelle Kirsty Reason, 54, worked as an exhibits officer in a team investigating high-level drugs gangs. She was one of only a small number of people with access to a safe holding hundreds of thousands of pounds.

On Monday, she pleaded guilty to theft and misconduct in public office at Mansfield Magistrates’ and County Court and was sentenced to four years and two months in prison.

Reason, of Church Lane in Buxton, was based in Ripley. Derbyshire Police said she began stealing from about January 2022, after handling a cash seizure worth approximately £350,000.

She initially took £15,000. She told officers that, when she realised nobody had noticed, she began stealing regularly. The thefts continued until she left the force in December 2025.

The force said she spent the stolen money on a car, a holiday and tickets to events. Cash seized from criminals had instead funded the spending of an officer entrusted with its safekeeping.

The losses came to light when officers reviewed stored exhibits ahead of an upcoming court case and questioned where the money had gone. Restricted access to the safe had not prevented repeated thefts; it was the later examination of the evidence that exposed the missing cash.