Officer jailed for passing sensitive information to known criminal
A police constable has been jailed for illegally accessing police computer systems and passing sensitive information to a known criminal she had a relationship with.
PC Lorna Pennycook, 38, researched information across various West Midlands Police systems between 2017 and 2021 and passed information to boyfriend Anthony Kennedy.
Pennycook began her relationship with Kennedy, 43, who has 18 previous convictions for offences such as vehicle theft, theft from vehicles, and possession of criminal property, in 2016 after meeting him on a dating site.
Between 2017 and 2021, she provided Kennedy with sensitive police information in relation to him, his vehicles, his associates, as well as crime in the Sandwell area of Birmingham, which she did not have responsibility for policing.
She also carried out checks for outstanding warrants for Sandwell – where Kennedy lived – 42 times between 2017 and 2021 compared with only a handful of checks in that time for other areas she did not police.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said recovered messages between the pair showed that when Kennedy first found out that Pennycook was a police officer in 2017, he wanted to end the relationship.
But Pennycook responded by telling him that she had “accepted everything” about him, adding: “You don’t choose who you love”.
Between August and November 2017, Pennycook, who worked with the West Midlands Police Birmingham east and west organised crime and gangs teams, sought information about two HGV thefts Kennedy was involved in on August 22 2017 and October 26 2017.
She searched systems for warrants and suspects, and viewed police logs for both thefts, which contained information about the investigations.
Kennedy was later sentenced to 32 months’ imprisonment for the offences.
Various other checks for associates of Kennedy and related warrants were carried out over the four-year period, some of which followed instruction by Kennedy. The information provided Kennedy with an advantage and on some occasions the potential to impede active police investigations.
The CPS said: “Pennycook was aware that what she was doing was wrong and often instructed Kennedy to delete the messages between them, and in February 2021, she asked Kennedy to obtain a ‘burner’ phone for her to use for their contact.
“In her initial police interview following her arrest, Pennycook claimed that Kennedy had ruined her life and that she acted as she did because she was in fear of him.
“However, the call data and text message evidence did not support her claims, showing Pennycook had contacted Kennedy significantly more times than he had called her and that he had blocked her number on several occasions. On one day, she tried to call him 81 times, and he only answered three of those calls.”
Pennycook pleaded guilty to one offence of misconduct in public office in March 2023.
After initially pleaded not guilty to encouraging or assisting offences believing one or more will be committed, Kennedy changed his plea to guilty in March 2024.
Pennycook, who resigned from West Midlands Police shortly after her arrest, was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday (December 12).
Kennedy was also sentenced to four years’ imprisonment.
The prosecution followed an investigation carried out by West Midlands Police Anti-Corruption Unit under the direction of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Malcolm McHaffie, head of the CPS’s Special Crime Division, said: “Lorna Pennycook became infatuated with Anthony Kennedy, and provided him with extremely sensitive information over a four-year period.
“There is evidence that Kennedy encouraged her to conduct the criminal searches on some occasions, but Pennycook must also take responsibility for her shameful actions, which have risked damaging public trust and confidence in police officers.
“She persuaded Kennedy that she could assist him when he attempted to break off the relationship and must now face the consequences of passing confidential material to a convicted criminal.
“The CPS will not hesitate to bring charges against those who abuse their position in such a dishonest way.”
IOPC Director of Operations Steve Noonan said: “Ex-PC Pennycook’s actions were corrupt and criminal. Abusing her position of power to assist criminal activity rather than clamp down on it was a complete betrayal of the public’s trust and such behaviour has no place in policing.
“She has now been held accountable for her actions and has a criminal record as a result.
“This investigation is testament to how seriously the IOPC, law enforcement agencies and the criminal justice system takes this kind of behaviour and I am grateful to all those involved in ensuring justice was served today.”
A referral was made by West Midlands Police to the IOPC in November 2020 and it decided that an investigation should be carried out by the force under our direction.
The investigation was completed in October 2021 and, based on the investigator’s report, the IOPC decided a file of evidence should be passed to the CPS, which authorised the charge against the former officer.
“On conclusion of the investigation, we found the former officer had a case to answer for gross misconduct for alleged breaches of police standards of professional behaviour for honesty and integrity, conduct and confidentiality. It will be for West Midlands Police to arrange a disciplinary hearing,” the IOPC said.