A former police officer and a law firm employee have been sentenced after they were convicted of conspiring to sell personal data from traffic accident logs, the web-site of the Lancashire police reports.
Nigel Mungur, 40, a former immediate response officer, pleaded guilty in November 2015 to Misconduct in Public Office, Conspiracy to Commit Misconduct in Public Office, money laundering and unauthorised access to a computer.
John Helton, 37, admitted charges last month of Conspiracy with Nigel Mungur to convert criminal property (Money Laundering) and Conspiracy with Nigel Mungur to commit unauthorised access to a computer.
At Chester Crown Court on Friday Nigel Mungur was jailed for 5 years and Helton for 2 years, suspended for 2 years.
Nigel Mungur’s wife Nicola, also a former police officer, was given a conditional discharge after she admitted a data protection offence.
Both the Mungurs, from Crosby, were dismissed from the force in March 2016 for gross misconduct.
In February 2014 Lancashire Constabulary’s Professional Standards Integrity & Anti-Corruption Team launched an investigation following complaints from members of the public about the unauthorised disclosure of their personal information after they had been involved in traffic accidents.
The complaints arose because those involved had provided their personal details to the police but not to any third party and yet they had been contacted by a law firm purporting to specialise in obtaining compensation for the victims of road traffic accidents.
The police investigation found Nigel Mungur had accessed more than 20,000 logs over seven years, selling the information on to Helton, who worked for Liverpool based law firm GT Law, making more than £363,000.
The judge at Chester Crown Court said Nigel Mungur had shown a sophisticated and persistent approach which showed a gross breach of trust motivated by greed. He had abused his trusted position as a police officer and undermined the public’s faith in the police, the majority of whom do an exceptional job, the judge said.
