Met Officer sacked for leaking embassy information
- Published
A Met counter-terror officer has been sacked after passing confidential information about protesters to the Algerian Embassy.
Saadane Mansouri was dismissed and banned from ever working in the police after being found guilty of gross misconduct, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.
A disciplinary hearing was told Mr Mansouri had been in contact with the country's embassy in London in 2019 through his role as a community engagement officer and shared information from police systems with embassy officials between March 2019 and December 2020.
He also "viewed police records relating to a neighbour on multiple occasions without a legitimate purpose", the watchdog said.
Personal phone
Mr Mansouri - who was suspended from duty in March 2020 - was often in contact with embassy staff from a "personal phone" and had "no involvement" in the investigation into his neighbour, according to the Met.
The IOPC said Mr Mansouri's identity was initially kept secret after the chairman of the disciplinary panel granted the officer anonymity.
But the Met has since named the ex-officer and confirmed the order was lifted at the conclusion of the hearing.
His name will appear on the police barred list, kept by the College of Policing.
IOPC operations director Steve Noonan said: "Viewing police records without having a legitimate reason and passing confidential information on to third parties is unacceptable and damages the public's trust in police officers."
Commander Katie Lilburn, head of the Met's professional standards department, said: "Everyone who works in our organisation knows that police systems must only be used when there is a legitimate reason for doing so and this officer's behaviour was completely unacceptable."