Dowler leak detective jailed

A former police officer who leaked information relating to murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler has been jailed.

On April 1, former Surrey Police Detective Constable Simon Quinn, 43, from Horsham, West Sussex, was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment at the Old Bailey after pleading guilty to misconduct in public office at Kingston Crown Court in October.

As well as leaking information regarding Ms Dowler to a journalist working for a national newspaper, Quinn supplied details of a number of cases involving celebrities, both as victims and suspects, between November 2000 and January 30, 2011.

He received payments of at least £7,000 for the information he unlawfully supplied.

Detective Chief Superintendent Gordon Briggs from the Metropolitan Police Service and the officer in charge of Operation Elveden said: “Quinn is the ninth police officer, and the 27th public official, to have been convicted for passing confidential information acquired in the course of their duties to journalists for financial gain.

“Trust and confidence in the police service is undermined when police officers behave in this way and the public interest is harmed. Their dishonest actions merit criminal convictions.

“It is the role of a police officer to serve and protect. Leaking sensitive and confidential information is an abuse of the trust the public hold in us. Victims of crime need to have complete confidence that they will get the support and help of the police and be treated with sensitivity and confidentiality.”

Quinn is the 62nd person to be arrested under Operation Elevden, the MPS investigation into corrupt payments made to public officials.

PC Quinn resigned from Surrey Police in 2011.