Special constable shared sensitive data on WhatsApp

A special constable who shared sensitive personal data has been barred from policing.

Kayleigh-Mae Knight sent pictures of documents that contained the name and health details of a person involved in a police incident to two acquaintances over WhatsApp.

A Leicestershire Police misconduct hearing heard she admitted sending the images with a text saying "joys of paperwork", the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

Chief Constable Rob Nixon, who oversaw the case, said Ms Knight's actions constituted gross misconduct and dismissed her without notice.

He also ruled Ms Knight be placed on the police barred list to "prevent her from committing further misconduct".

Ms Knight had admitted sending the images on WhatsApp despite there being no "policing purpose" to sending them, the force said.

The LDRS said Ms Knight had also admitted taking pictures of other police files on four occasions between January and September 2023 containing sensitive personal details.

These included references to a missing person's mental health, a slide from an intelligence briefing marked "official sensitive", and the names, dates of birth and address of people involved in an incident.

The force has not said that the information was shared with anyone else.

It ruled, however, that because Ms Knight took the pictures on her phone, they could have potentially become "accessible" to a "third party".

Mr Nixon said the behaviour was "repeated" and "deliberate", and Ms Knight's prior training around information security also fed into the seriousness of the misconduct.

However, he did thank her for her "openness" around the incidents and her "heartfelt submission" to the misconduct panel.

Mr Nixon said: "While the officer has shown significant remorse and reflection, and the actions were not driven out of any sense of personal gain or deliberate intent, this conduct represented a lack of consideration for confidential information.

"The force and the public rightly expect the highest possible control and care of police data, and I was left with no other choice but to reach a conclusion of dismissal without notice."

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