A counter-terrorism officer who snooped on her ex-husband after he began a new relationship was fined just £350 because she was motivated by the “best of intentions”.
Pc Annaleisa Gordon, 48, scanned police databases to obtain information about Christopher McNair, who is also a serving officer. Gordon claimed Mr McNair and his new girlfriend were involved in a “volatile” relationship and she was worried about his wellbeing after he apparently went missing.
She said she “genuinely” feared he could be dead.
But after completing her trawl and finding nothing, Gordon, who worked at the Met’s Counter-Terrorism squad in Greenwich, failed to voice her concerns to colleagues.
She denied obtaining personal data but was convicted by a jury following a three-day trial at Southwark crown court. She now faces a disciplinary hearing before the Directorate of Professional Standards. But Gordon was cleared of two like counts after being accused of conducting more than 100 searches on the roads where she and her parents live in Sutton, south London. She was said to have accessed the police computer to unearth “a wealth of personal information” about their neighbours.
The judge, Mr Recorder Aidan Christie QC, fined Gordon £350. He told her: “You said your estranged husband was missing and you were anxious to obtain information on him. There is no doubt in my mind your ex-husband was a considerable source of concern for you.
“In my judgement, your offending is at the very lowest end of the scale. It is a one-off offence motivated by the best of intentions.”
Gordon, who joined the Met in May 1988, had faced a maximum fine of £5,000.
When asked why her searches were wide-ranging and did not include specific terms, she blamed “unreliable” colleagues for putting insufficient information into the police system.
She insisted she was concerned about the well-being of Mr McNair, telling the court: “I genuinely believed he was dead, I was looking for his unidentified body.”
Gordon, of Stanley Park Road, Sutton, denied three counts of obtaining personal data contrary to section 55 (1) of the Data Protection Act 1988.
