Data breach undermined police integrity, judge says, as officers fined £5,000 each

A judge has issued £5000 fines each to a police inspector and a former police constable who admitted sharing information relating to a criminal investigation.  

Last month, 37-year-old Inspector Sean Picton, and 38-year-old Anthony Bolaños, pleaded guilty to unlawfully obtaining and sharing personal data.

At their sentencing, Supreme Court Judge Matthew Happold described their actions as having undermined ‘public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the police’. 

Serving officer, Sean Picton and former officer, Anthony Bolaños, had initially faced charges relating to misconduct in public office.

However, the indictment was later amended to include data protection offences - which the pair pleaded guilty to a week before they were set to stand trial. 

The offences relate to the discussion of a criminal investigation that began in late 2022 after a man was arrested for the possession of cocaine and obstructing  police. 

The court heard how the man then messaged Anthony Bolaños, asking him for ‘a favour’.  Bolaños, who had spent 12  years at the RGP, but currently works for the Department of the Environment, then got in touch with Inspector Sean Picton – who at the time was not involved in the man’s case. 

This began communications between the three that spanned months and saw Mr Picton access the police database and share information he found with Mr Bolaños, who then passed it onto the third party.

At the sentencing, Judge Matthew Happold said they both knew what they were doing was wrong.

He fined each man £5000 - to be paid within four months. Failure to do so, he said, could lead to three months in prison.

In a statement given to the media outside court, Sean Picton and Anthony Bolaños said they could now finally close the chapter and begin to rebuild their lives, after a process that had ‘spanned years and caused significant personal, emotional and financial strain’. 

‘We feel vindicated’ , they said, and thanked their families and legal team for their support.

Johan Fernandez acted for the Crown, Shane Danino for defence.

The full statement from Sean Picton and Anthony Bolaños: 

We feel vindicated today.

It was alleged that our conduct amounted to misconduct in public office - an allegation of the utmost seriousness, carrying the real prospect of imprisonment. That allegation has not been pursued by the Crown. The Crown amended the indictment to include two data protection offences, which are summary in nature and carry a maximum penalty of a fine.

From the outset, we maintained that the misconduct in public office allegation was oppressive, inappropriate and disproportionate. An application was made to stay those proceedings as an abuse of process. Whilst that application was refused, the subsequent and substantial dilution of the case against us speaks clearly to the true nature and scale of the issues involved.

We entered guilty pleas to the data protection offences for practical reasons; to bring finality to a process that has spanned years and caused significant personal, emotional, and financial strain. The decision to plead was taken to avoid the continued stress and cost of prolonged proceedings and to allow all parties to move on in light of the diminishment of the case.

These new offences are of a fundamentally different and far less serious character than the allegation originally pursued. They do not reflect the level of misconduct that was previously alleged, nor the narrative that surrounded it.

We respect the court process. Today's outcome allows us to finally close this chapter, begin rebuilding our lives. We do however, reserve our rights to legal recourse in relation to any outstanding issues.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank our families and our legal team for their support and counsel throughout.