'Naive' Derbyshire Police police staff who leaked information jailed

Two police call handlers who "flaunted" their training by looking up and passing on confidential information to criminals have been jailed.

Jessica Fitzhugh and Ellie-Mae Doherty, both 22, accessed personal details about their criminal boyfriends while working for Derbyshire Constabulary.

Fitzhugh, from Belper, admitted unauthorised access to computer material, and Doherty, from Ripley, pleaded guilty to the more serious offence of misconduct in a public office, after she passed on to her partner some of the information she found.

Doherty was jailed for 11 months and Fitzhugh for four months after a two-day hearing at Leicester Crown Court, which concluded on Thursday.

Following the investigation, the IOPC sent evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the charges were authorised on 23 March.

Derbyshire Police said both Doherty and Fitzhugh "have left the organisation" and a misconduct hearing would now take place.

Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Michelle Shooter said: "[They] breached the trust and have faced the consequences of their actions."

In sentencing, Judge Timothy Spencer KC called them "naive", describing them as "girlfriends of two undesirable young men".

He said: "Regrettably and for reasons that now you will find impossible to rationalise, you both flaunted the clear training, the clear direction and the clear guidelines you were given by the Derbyshire Police.

"In your case, Ellie-Mae Doherty, it went further because the information you accessed was clearly passed on in two distinct ways at two distinct times."

Fitzhugh started working for the force in January 2023, when she was 19 years old, as a call handler and then a dispatcher, before referring her friend Doherty for a job, who joined as a call handler in September 2023, the court heard.

Both women went through "intense" vetting and were required to read and sign declarations stating that they had no contacts who were "engaged in criminal activities", the court heard.

Prosecuting, Helen Rodger said each had a sexual relationship with men involved in crime, and should have known that these were "disclosable associations".

The first time Doherty accessed information about an incident and passed it on to Robbie Braddock, with whom she was said to be in a relationship, was in December 2023, roughly two months after she completed her control room training.

Doherty shared details about the incident, a fight in which another male had smashed a window, with Braddock.

Rodger said a second incident involving Doherty on 6 March 2024, saw her access details about a search warrant being executed and pass on details about it to the same man as before.

Doherty viewed the details of the incident several times before also checking who was in custody at Ripley custody suite.

Fitzhugh, who was also said to be in a relationship with a man with a criminal record, looked up incidents in spring 2024, out of what the judge called "idle curiosity".

The two women, who met while both working at McDonald's before starting with the force, sat apart in the dock and were accompanied in court by their families.

Spencer speculated that maybe their "friendship has not survived this case" and said "I have little doubt that it will haunt you for the rest of your days".

He said: "It's impossible to recognise the young women who I read about, with such positive qualities, in the women who committed these offences."

Defending Fitzhugh, Elizabeth Power said she had a "lack of awareness" about the "severity of the breaches that she made".

Lowri Butterworth, for Doherty, told the court that she was "acutely aware" and had been using her time since to "give back" to her community.

Both women were charged in April following an investigation led by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) after conduct referrals.

Emily Barry, from the IOPC, said Doherty admitted supplying information to a man with known links to crime within a few months of her joining the force.

"Call handlers are privy to sensitive information and have access to confidential data on police systems," she added.

"It's incumbent on them not to inappropriately disclose information and to only access material for policing purposes."

Barry said the pair were likely to be barred from working in policing again following respective misconduct hearings.

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Call handlers accused of leaking data to criminals