Former officer given suspended sentence for leaking murder inquiry details
A former Devon and Cornwall police officer has been given a 20-month prison sentence suspended for two years for leaking sensitive information on multiple cases to her friends and family.
Samantha Hill, 33, from Plymouth had pleaded guilty to 18 offences of misconduct in public office at Bristol Crown Court on January 17. The former police constable was sentenced at the same court on Friday (April 4), and also ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work.
In November 2021, an investigation began following a high-profile murder inquiry in Plymouth.
Officers became aware of information concerning the murder investigation circulating on social media that was not in the public domain.
They identified Hill, then a serving police officer, as the source of the material that was being shared. Following an investigation by the Devon and Cornwall Counter Corruption Unit, Hill was arrested and her phone seized.
The investigation revealed that between January 2021 and November 2021, Hill repeatedly accessed sensitive material on police systems that she did not need to see.
This included highly sensitive briefings, images and recordings. She shared these images and recordings with her friends and family via WhatsApp.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the information Hill was sharing contained “extremely sensitive personal information about a wide range of cases including shootings, suicides and a murder investigation”.
Once the allegations came to light, Devon and Cornwall Police said Hill was arrested and immediately suspended pending the investigation.
Stella Waata, Senior Crown Prosecutor in the CPS South West Complex Casework Unit, said: “As a police officer, Samantha Hill was in a position of trust which she gravely abused. She routinely accessed sensitive material for no policing purpose and shared it with people outside the force.
“She showed a blatant disregard for the handling of sensitive information, falling significantly short of the standards expected of a police officer. Her criminal acts risked undermining public confidence in the police and the wider criminal justice system.
“Through close collaboration between the CPS and Devon and Cornwall Police, Hill was left with no option but to plead guilty and face the consequences of her actions.
“The CPS is committed to diligently prosecuting such abuses to ensure the public has full confidence in those charged with protecting them.”
Devon and Cornwall Police Assistant Chief Constable Glen Mayhew said: “The officer has clearly fallen very short of the behaviour we expect from our workforce by showing a complete disregard for the rules in place around accessing police records.
“PC Hill resigned during the course of this investigation but has today been sentenced of a criminal offence and will face the consequences of her actions.”
Following the conclusion of criminal proceedings, the force said disciplinary proceedings will commence for the former officer.