Pc used force computer to become 'sexual predator'
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A police officer who acted as a "sexual adventurer" by using the force computer to access women's details was sentenced by a court today.
Pc Robert Campbell, who worked for Hampshire Constabulary's central operational command unit, appeared at Guildford Crown Court after pleading guilty to the unauthorised used of a computer.
The 42-year-old, of Chadworth Crescent, Portsmouth, Hampshire, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to the offence which involved accessing the details of one woman.
A trial involving alternative charges relating to a total of four women collapsed earlier this year, the court heard.
The court was told that Campbell used the force computer to access the personal details of women who had contacted the police.
These involved women who had been the victims of crime, people who had called the police, witnesses and women who had been involved in road accidents.
Judge Peter Moss told Campbell he was "completely unsuited" to being a police officer.
The court was told that Campbell would be handing in his resignation to Hampshire Police, where he was taken off frontline duties, at a disciplinary hearing next week.
Sentencing him to an 18-month conditional discharge and ordering him to pay £1,200 in costs, Judge Moss said: "You were a police officer, you accessed the force computer because you were a sexual adventurer.
"You accessed the internal computer's records for your own purposes in relation to a young lady who you had some sexual conversation with and in relation to a lot of other women you were chasing around, people who had telephoned the police, members of the public, witnesses, people involved in road accidents.
"All their records are properly stored to respect their privacy and you breached that and it undermines public confidence in the police records by you doing that."
He added: "You will not be a police officer for much longer and I have to say it seems to me wholly proper, you are not properly suited to be a police officer."
Sean Minihan, defending, told the court that Campbell's marriage had fallen apart prior to committing the offence.
A Hampshire Police spokesman said after the hearing that the investigation into Campbell began following a complaint from a member of the public.
Detective Inspector Dave Morgan, from Hampshire Police's anti-corruption unit, said: "The conviction of Pc Campbell demonstrates that we take seriously allegations about illegal behaviour of our staff.
"In this case Pc Campbell accessed data held within our force's records management system for his own personal use, which is unlawful."