Married Lancashire police officers sold road crash data

The CPS said Nigel and Nicola Mungur "fell short of their duty"

Two married police officers stole confidential data about car crashes and sold it to claims firms for £363,000.

Nigel Mungur, 40, was jailed for five years, while his 37-year-old wife Nicola received a 12-month conditional discharge at Chester Crown Court.

The Lancashire Police constables, of Haigh Road in the Waterloo area of Merseyside, were sacked in March 2016 for gross misconduct.

A third person, John Helton, received a two-year suspended prison sentence.

The data was used to cold-call people who had been in accidents, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

Confidential information

An investigation was launched by the force in 2014 after people complained they were getting calls from law firms when they had not given their details to anyone other than the police.

One man was contacted by a claims firm even before an officer had arrived to investigate his report.

Over a seven-year period, the CPS said Nigel Mungur accessed the data of individuals involved in road traffic collisions on 21,802 occasions and set up a firm to sell the data to claims companies.

When the company's licence was revoked in early 2009, he applied to set up another one and paid the registration fee with a cheque signed by his wife to avoid suspicion.

Helton, a contractor for a claims firm, was also involved as he would sell the data passed to him to the firm.

The information included the time, date and place of collisions and the personal details of people reporting incidents to the police.

'Reaped rewards'

Nigel Mungur pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office and conspiracy to convert criminal property and Nicola Mungur pleaded guilty to obtaining personal data.

Helton admitted conspiracy to convert criminal property and conspiracy to commit unauthorised access to a computer. He was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 300 hours' unpaid work.

Richard Riley, from the CPS, said the couple "fell short of their duty".

"Nigel Mungur's greed led him to take the leading role in stealing confidential information held on a police database and sell it for profit," he said.

"Nicola Mungur was clearly aware of her husband's crimes and encouraged, connived and acquiesced in them by turning a blind eye and the pair reaped the financial rewards."