Former Gwent officer guilty of data breach misconduct

A former Gwent Police officer would have been dismissed without notice after admitting to unauthorised and inappropriate access of computer systems, had he not already resigned.

Ex-PC Patrick Higgins resigned ahead of an accelerated gross misconduct hearing held in public in Cwmbran on Tuesday 21 October. The hearing related to three allegations which occurred between Sunday 30 April 2023 and Thursday 26 October 2023.

All three allegations were found proven against the former officer, who did not attend the hearing in person. He was found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour for honesty and integrity.

Assistant Chief Constable Nick McLain, the chair of the hearing panel, said:

“We expect all our officers to recognise the importance of data integrity and security, and this former officer has shown a complete lack of professionalism with these three breaches, which also pass the criminal threshold.

“Anyone who does not adhere to these standards should expect to be held accountable and have appropriate action taken against them.

“The vast majority of our officers, staff and volunteers at Gwent Police work tirelessly to keep their communities safe and uphold the professional standards of behaviour that the public rightfully expects of them.

“We will continue to take robust action against any officer or staff members who does not act with the highest standards of integrity.”

The former officer previously appeared at Newport Crown Court on Monday 22 September in relation to three counts of inappropriately accessing data, which were all admitted as part of an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) directed investigation.

He will shortly be placed on the College of Policing’s barred list.