A former poster girl for the Metropolitan Police’s firearms unit unlawfully took sensitive personal information to expose ‘corruption and prejudice’ against Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Staff, a court heard.
Carol Rita Howard, 41, worked on a short-term contract as an investigator for the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which she later took to an employment tribunal.
The former Lambeth and Croydon borough officer’s gun-toting image was used on security posters at the 2012 London Olympics and she served The Met between 2001 and 2014.
Croydon Crown Court heard she was hired by the IPCC on October 31, 2016 and does not deny accessing the information, which included the probe of a serving police officer, accused of sexual offences and sending it to her solicitor.
“She admitted forwarding the emails to herself and sending them to her solicitor,” prosecutor Eva Niculiu told the jury.
“Her reasons for sending them out was to get legal advice for her ‘whistle-blowing’ employment tribunal claims of corruption and prejudice at the IPCC against BAME staff.”
Howard was employed by the IPCC for approximately five months. “Her employment ended on the basis of suspected security breaches,” explained the prosecutor.
“In the days up to April 6, 2017, 101 emails had been sent from the defendant’s IPCC email address to her personal hotmail address and all of these contained personal data.
“She also retained a copy of her ‘blue book’, which was used to report on her work at the IPCC during investigations.
The IPCC reported Howard to the Information Commissioners Office, which is prosecuting the case and interviewed her under caution on September 5, 2018.
“When she was questioned he said: ‘I clicked on the emails. I didn’t go through every document.’
“She had daily access to personal information,” added Ms Niculiu. “The IPCC is a public body overseeing complaints made against the police in England and Wales.
“On her first day at work at the IPCC the defendant signed a security procedure form, agreeing not to disclose information.”
The IPCC has since re-branded itself as The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
The mum-of-one, of Coulsdon Road, Coulsdon has pleaded not guilty to one count of unlawfully obtaining personal information under the Data Protection Act between March 28, 2017 and April 6, 2017, including victims, witnesses and service users.
She also pleads not guilty to another count under the Act of unlawfully disclosing the same personal information to her solicitor between the same dates.
The trial is expected to last four days………..
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