Police officer gets five years in prison for claims data theft

A police officer was sentenced to five years in prison for stealing data and selling it to claimant law fims.

And a former relationship manager for law firm GT Law, has also been given a two year suspended sentence and 300 hours of community service.

Between 2007 and 2014, police officer Nigel Mungur accessed thousands of incident logs and passed data on to law firms. Together with GT Law’s John Helton, they stood to benefit £363,000 from the sale of others’ data.

Mungur was caught out when the Lancashire Police Professional Standards Department received a complaint from a member of the public who claimed their personal information had been disclosed. They had been contacted by a legal firm regarding claiming compensation after they were involved in a road traffic collision.

Another police officer experienced the same issue after being in a bicycle accident. On investigation, the Lancashire Police Anti-Corruption Team found that Mungur had accessed both files. Further analysis showed that he had accessed thousands of records.

A search of Mungur’s home unearthed damning evidence. He was also found to be in touch with conspirators, including Helton, when his phone was checked. Mungur had a number of screen captures on his phone with contact details for accident victims and police logs.

Mungur pleaded guilty to four charges, which were: misconduct in a public office, conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office with John Helton; conspiracy to convert criminal property with John Helton, and conspiracy to commit unauthorised access to a computer with John Helton.

Mungur’s wife, who also worked for Lancashire Constabulary, was implicated in his crimes and received a 12 month conditional discharge. Both Mungurs were fired from the force.

IFB director Ben Fletcher commented: “This investigation highlights that unauthorised data sharing can occur within any profession, but the IFB and wider industry remain vigilant to it and are committed to clamping down on those involved in this type of crime.”

“The sentences handed down serve to show that this issue is being taken seriously. These individuals were trusted by the public to handle their data safely and securely, and this criminal behaviour for financial gain is abhorrent and one that will not be tolerated.”

Lancashire Constabulary head of professional standards Pete Simm said: “Once these offences came to light we instigated a full, thorough and proportionate investigation and took swift action to remove both the Mungurs from the organisation. I would like to reassure our communities that we will continue to act wherever we find malpractice and wrongdoing within Lancashire Constabulary. We will root it out to ensure that people can have confidence and trust in us.”