Ex-PC who shared information with criminal jailed

A police officer has been jailed for illegally accessing and passing sensitive information from police computer systems to her convicted criminal boyfriend.

Lorna Pennycook, 38, from Walsall, shared sensitive information with Anthony Kennedy, 43, from Tipton, between 2017 and 2021, Birmingham Crown Court heard.

The former PC, who resigned from West Midlands Police in July 2021, admitted one offence of misconduct in public office in March 2023.

Pennycook was jailed for four years on Thursday, with Kennedy receiving the same sentence for encouraging or assisting the offences.

The pair met on a dating site in 2016, with recovered messages showing Kennedy wanted to end the relationship when he first discovered Pennycook was a police officer.

She responded by telling him that she had "accepted everything" about him, adding: "You don't choose who you love," the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

Pennycook repeatedly used her position to search for information in relation to Kennedy and his vehicles, including checking for outstanding warrants for Sandwell, where he lived, 42 times during the four-year period.

Some of the checks were made at her boyfriend's behest, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) added.

Pennycook had also sought information about two lorry thefts he had been involved in, searching systems for warrants and suspects and viewing police logs.

Kennedy, who the CPS said had 18 previous convictions for offences including vehicle theft, was later sentenced to 32 months in prison for the offences.

In a police interview, the former police constable claimed that Kennedy had ruined her life and she was in fear of him.

However mobile phone data showed she had contacted him "significantly more times than he had called her," once calling him 81 times in a day.

The CPS said she was aware of her wrongdoing and often instructed Kennedy to delete messages between them.

After initially pleading not guilty to encouraging or assisting offences believing one or more will be committed, Kennedy changed his plea to guilty in March 2024.

Malcolm McHaffie, from the CPS, said Pennycook must face the consequences of passing "confidential information to a convicted criminal".

"Lorna Pennycook became infatuated with Anthony Kennedy, and provided him with extremely sensitive information over a four-year period," he said.

"There is evidence that Kennedy encouraged her to conduct the criminal searches on some occasions, but Pennycook must also take responsibility for her shameful actions, which have risked damaging public trust and confidence in police officers.

"The CPS will not hesitate to bring charges against those who abuse their position in such a dishonest way."

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