Thames Valley Police call centre employee admits corruption

Following an investigation led by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, Catherine Arrol, 29, pleaded guilty in May to three counts of participating in the criminal activities of an organised criminal group and four counts of abuse of office.

She was sentenced to 34 months in prison at Reading Crown Court on Monday (9 September).

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The court heard that Arrol was working from home, where she lived with her parents and brother, during the coronavirus pandemic when the incidents occurred.

Arrol, of Silver Close, Maidenhead, had entered non-urgent requests into the police system and was managing the requests, while her brother John Arrol, 38, of Manor Lane, Sunbury, accessed the police system to “look up information which was then passed on to organised crime groups”.

The court heard that a suspected EncroChat was also found on a phone in Arrol’s room, showing information being exchanged “about the criminal network”.

Officials from TVP’s anti-corruption unit conducted the investigation after an internal audit raised concerns about possible unauthorized access to police systems.

The investigation, which followed a mandatory referral by TVP in May 2020, looked into whether it had accessed police computer systems and confidential materials without police purposes and whether this information had been passed on to third parties.

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After the investigation was completed in July 2022, it was decided to send a file with evidence to the public prosecutor’s office, which filed charges.

As a result of the investigation, Arrol’s brother, who does not work for TVP, was also charged with three counts of involvement in criminal activities of an organized criminal group.

He admitted the charges and was sentenced to 24 months in prison.

During the investigation, drugs were found in Arrol’s bedroom and as a result, a misconduct hearing was held at TVP, where it was determined that had she not already resigned prior to the hearing in October 2020, she would have been fired with immediate effect.

IOPC Director Steve Noonan said: “All police officers and staff are in a position of trust where they have access to confidential and sensitive information held by police systems.

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“You know that searches of police records must serve legitimate purposes and the information must never be passed on to third parties.

“Catherine Arrol’s conduct fell far short of what would be expected of a member of the police force and represented a serious breach of the public’s trust in the police.

“This investigation ensured that Ms Arrol and her brother were held accountable for their actions and both received prison sentences.”