legal
Former Merseyside police officer sacked after failing to declare he was 'too close' with the wrong crowd
A former Merseyside police officer will today begin his 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, after being found guilty of Computer Misuse Act (CMA) and Data Protection Act (DPA) offenses while serving.Daniel Hughes, 40, from Liverpool, carried out repeated unauthorized searches using police computer systems between 2016 and 2019, often including intelligence related to firearm and drug cases involving members of serious organised crime. Between 2019 and 2021, the Crown Prosecution Service also said Hughes relayed sensitive information about ongoing police investigations to “other people.”
He was arrested in March 2022, at which point officers seized his devices and combed through his communications, finding evidence of his relationships with criminals.
Hughes stood trial in April 2026, denying all charges, but was found guilty by a jury in June. The former officer was sacked in July following his conviction and an internal misconduct hearing, although he was not sacked for misconduct in a public office.Hughes had remained on suspension since his 2022 arrest. Judge Alan Conrad KC told Manchester Crown Court on Thursday that Hughes was not found to have profited from transmitting details on cases for which he had no legitimate interest, nor did he pass these on to criminal enterprises.He was also described as an “industrious” police officer, who had joined Merseyside police in 2006, and served “courageously” in the line of duty, having previously been stabbed in 2016 and attacked with a glass bottle in 2019.However, Hughes fostered and maintained relationships with criminals, and those who themselves were close to criminals, for a period spanning more than ten years.
