Derbyshire call handlers jailed for misusing police systems
Two former Derbyshire Constabulary call handlers have been jailed after abusing their access to sensitive police information.
Ellie-Mae Doherty, 22, and Jessica Fitzhugh, 22, were sentenced at Leicester Crown Court after an investigation directed by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Doherty, from Ripley, was jailed for 11 months after admitting passing information from police systems to a man linked to crime and failing to tell the force about her personal association with him.
Fitzhugh, from Belper, was sentenced to four months after pleading guilty to computer misuse. She admitted accessing information on police systems without authorisation and taking photographs of material held on them.
The pair worked as call handlers in Derbyshire Police’s control room.
The IOPC said Doherty supplied information to a man she knew personally who had known links to crime, including telling him that an associate had been arrested. Some of the information was supplied within months of her joining the force.
The women were charged with misconduct in public office in April following conduct referrals made by Derbyshire Police in December 2023 and March 2024.
The IOPC investigation was carried out by the force’s Counter Corruption Unit under its direction and control.
IOPC Director of Engagement Emily Barry said misuse of police systems was the most common form of corruption dealt with by the organisation’s anti-corruption unit. “Disclosure of police information without a valid reason for doing so, often to those involved in criminality, is the most common form of corruption the IOPC anti-corruption unit deals with,” she said.
“Police information and intelligence is an extremely valuable commodity to criminals who will actively seek it out.”
Ms Barry said call handlers had access to confidential information and were required to use it only for policing purposes. “Doherty admitted supplying information to a man she knew personally, a man with known links to crime, including on one occasion to inform him that an associate had been arrested,” she said.
Derbyshire Police’s Temporary Chief Constable Michelle Shooter said the pair had breached the trust placed in them. “Police officers and staff are given access to extremely sensitive information in order to keep our communities safe,” she said. “The public put their trust in us and expect that we will use that information for the appropriate reasons.
“Both Jessica Fitzhugh and Ellie-Mae Doherty breached the trust and have faced the consequences of their actions.”
Both women have left Derbyshire Constabulary and will face misconduct hearings following their convictions, with the IOPC saying they could expect to be barred from working in policing again.