Officer shared confidential images with public

The Metropolitan Police said Matthew Olive shared information with two members of the public "without any legitimate policing purpose"

A police officer undermined public confidence when he shared information from computer systems with members of the public, a misconduct hearing has ruled.

Matthew Olive, of Victoria Avenue in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, shared images of unidentified people suspected of crimes with two members of the public.

The Metropolitan Police concluded he committed gross misconduct and would have been sacked if he was still serving with the force.

The 26-year-old had already pleaded guilty to four misconduct offences at court, where he was given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Olive was accused of offences in 2022 and 2023, and the misconduct hearing took place last month.

Unauthorised searches

Laurence Taylor, who was the assistant commissioner for professionalism, said Olive performed unauthorised searches on the police computer systems and shared a briefing and images from the forensic imagery management system.

He said it was shared with two members of the public "without any legitimate policing purpose".

Mr Taylor said Olive also shared information from the computer system in a WhatsApp chat, and offered to look up information relating to a member of the public.

"The gravity of former PC Olive's behaviour means that I do not consider that any sanction less than dismissal without notice would have been justified," Mr Taylor said.

On 7 March at Southwark Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to four counts of misconduct in public office.

He pleaded not guilty to a fifth misconduct offence, and the prosecution dropped that particular charge.

Olive was also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and pay costs of £1,600 to the Crown Prosecution Service.