A senior Police officer accused of theft had to stand by as his colleagues ransacked his home and seized personal documents, a court heard yesterday.

Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Crockwell is on trial at Supreme Court accused of stealing more than $35,000 which was supposed to be spent carrying out construction work on a home.

Inspector Robin Sherwood told the court yesterday how Andrew Bascome, the defendant's partner in his business Bascro Construction, had visited the Police station to make allegations against Crockwell on February 5 last year.

Insp. Sherwood ? who worked with Crockwell for Bermuda Police ? said he then organised search warrants at the defendant's home, his office and a number of banks where he may have held accounts.

Insp. Sherwood told the jury: "I met with Andrew Bascome at the fraud unit office and recorded a statement from him in which he made certain allegations.

"On the same evening, I swore two search warrants. One was in relation to Stuart Crockwell's home address. I also swore a search warrant for Mr. Crockwell's offices.

"The next day, myself and other officers executed a search warrant at the major incident room in the presence of Mr. Crockwell. The search gave negative findings.

"At the conclusion of that search, we followed Mr. Crockwell to his home address. We arrived at the property at about 4 p.m., at which time I showed Mr. Crockwell and his wife the search warrant for the house and we gained entry.

"A number of documents were seized throughout the house at different locations."

Insp Sherwood, who told the jury he had often worked closely with the defendant, said a few days later search warrants were made at Butterfield Bank, the Bank of Bermuda and Capital G Bank in relation to accounts possibly held by Crockwell.

Officers took a number of bank documents, showing a range of transactions.

On the opening day of the trial on Thursday, the jury was told Terry Darrell, 42, had paid $125,000 for the first phase of work to be done on her house in Mount Hill, Pembroke, in 2004.

However, Crockwell, 44, is alleged to have used some of the cash to pay off personal loans and debts.

Yesterday, Ms Darrell told the jury she became suspicious in January 2005, when Crockwell came to her house and said he needed more money "at once" for the second phase of work.

She said she then contacted Mr. Bascome because she thought it was inappropriate to be giving Crockwell any more money.

"I said I was a bit apprehensive about releasing more funds," she said, "and I would like to have a meeting with Mr. Bascome and Mr. Crockwell."

She was then involved in an email conversation with Crockwell later in January but said she had no further contact after January 28.

"I tried to contact him by phoning," she said, "and at the time he said he was in a meeting and couldn't speak."

Ms Darrell told the court she had not given Crockwell permission to allocate any of the funds for his own personal use.

Under cross examination from Crockwell's lawyer Charles Richardson, Ms Darrell said that she had not specified that the $125,000 was to be used exclusively for wages and materials.

But she added: "It's what I believed should have happened."

The prosecution alleges Crockwell, from Smith's Hill, St. George's, used $15,000 of the $125,000 to cover a bounced cheque, $8,338 to clear a Capital G Bank loan he had with his wife, and $12,000 to pay off a credit card debt.

Yesterday, the jury were handed a series of bank documents which showed a number of transactions relating to various bank accounts, including those held by Bascro Construction.

The jury has previously heard Crockwell persuaded Mr. Bascome to go into business with him before the pair set up Bascro together.

Crockwell approached Mr. Bascome and told him he would help him set up a "kind of company" but did not want anything in return, Mr. Mahoney said.

However, when Crockwell said he needed more money for the second phase of work in January 2005, Mr. Bascome started making his own investigation, the prosecution claims.

Mr. Bascome then got hold of a red book containing Bascro accounts from a Police officer at force headquarters at Prospect.

He later went back to Prospect and spoke with Police Commissioner George Jackson ? and it was discovered that $35,338 had been "spent for the defendant's personal benefits".

Crockwell denies stealing the money ? which is described in court as a general deficiency belonging to Mr. Bascome or Ms Darrell.

The case continues on Monday.