A police officer has been dismissed without notice after being found to have accessed and shared police records.

A police officer has been dismissed without notice following an accelerated gross misconduct hearing.

An investigation by the Staffordshire Police Anti-Corruption Unit found that PC Alison Martland accessed police computer systems to look at records of people known to her, without a legitimate policing purpose, and shared the information with her family and members of the public.

A one-day accelerated gross misconduct hearing, which took place on Tuesday, June 16 and was chaired by Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Emily Clarke, found that PC Martland’s actions amounted to gross misconduct.

The hearing said the officer had breached the standards of honesty and integrity and discreditable conduct.

PC Martland, who was based in the south of the county, has been placed on the College of Policing’s Barred List, which prevents her from working in policing and other law enforcement bodies again.

Deputy Chief Constable Caroline Marsh said: “PC Martland knew that accessing police computer systems without a legitimate purpose, and in this case to look at records of people known to her, and then shared that information, was a significant breach of trust. Her actions were deliberate.

“Police computer systems contain a vast amount of sensitive information about individuals under investigation, and the public should rightly expect that all police officers treat this information in strict confidence and only access these records for policing purposes.”