West Midlands Police detective sacked for sharing murder information

Information about a murder suspect was shared from the detective's personal phone, a police misconduct panel heard

A police detective who obtained and shared information about the identification of a murder suspect on his personal mobile phone has been sacked for gross misconduct.

Det Con Paul Knowles, of West Midlands Police, was also found to have breached orders and instructions.

The officer had attempted to conceal that he had shared information with a colleague, the misconduct panel heard.

An allegation of discreditable conduct was found not proven.

The disciplinary panel made the decision following an investigation into the officer's involvement in the case by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

The officer tried to conceal information passed to a colleague, telling them to delete the messages

The Birmingham-based detective, who had been with the force for more than 19 years, was dismissed without notice on Wednesday.

The panel found allegations of matters of honesty and integrity breaches amounted to gross misconduct.

It heard the officer's actions had the potential to jeopardise the identification of a suspect, but that the outcome of the case was not affected.

He had passed information to a colleague, and instructed them not to tell anyone and delete the message, the panel was told.

Deputy Chief Constable Vanessa Jardine said: "It's disappointing to find that an officer would jeopardise the hard work of other officers in an investigation and put at risk the conviction of an offender, not least for the victim's family.

"Every day police officers are held to account for their actions and we are proud of what they achieve, but we will continue to question and investigate where those actions do not uphold our force values."

The IOPC said it took into account "the officer's experience, the deliberateness of his actions, his knowledge of the police policy and the potential erosion of public trust in West Midlands Police".

Regional director Derrick Campbell said: "We are advised the officer's conduct had no impact on the concluded murder investigation, but his actions did carry potential harm.

"The evidence indicated he actively asked his colleagues to delete the sensitive messaging that he'd shared with them over WhatsApp, as he knew this was a breach of policy."