A FORMER officer with Northamptonshire Police has been found guilty of gross misconduct after he sent explicit photos to another police officer based in Essex.
Former PC Toby Mullen also kept personal details of members of the public who he had encountered during his policing duties.
Mullen, who had resigned as a police officer before his disciplinary hearing, was found guilty of sending messages on SnapChat which were ‘grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character’ in July 2023, contrary to the Communications Act.
He was also found in breach of the Data Protection Act by obtaining personal data and knowingly or recklessly retaining it without consent, between September 2018 and June 2023.
The former officer appeared before Northampton Magistrates Court in January 2024 when he pleaded guilty to both offences and was sentenced to a community order for a period of 12 months, and ordered to pay a fine of £250, court costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £114.
At the disciplinary hearing, the chair, Chief Constable Meynell of Nottinghamshire Police, found Mullen had breached the standards of professional behaviour relating to discreditable conduct, honesty and integrity, and confidentiality.
The Chief Constable determined that, had Mullen still been a serving Police Officer, he would have been dismissed.
