A temporary Merseyside Police sergeant who illicitly looked up his criminal friends on internal computers has been officially banned from ever being an officer again. Daniel Hughes, 40, failed to disclose his longstanding associations with a number of people involved in serious organised crime using the encrypted EncroChat network.
He not only socialised, holidayed and went to the races with criminal associates, but also searched up intelligence reports about them. It was determined by investigators that he had not shared the details of the restricted logs with his associates, or had financially profited from the searches, but he was found to have divulged bits of gossip in a WhatsApp chat.
Gross misconduct hearing
Hughes appeared at Manchester Crown Court earlier this month where he was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, after a jury convicted him of a number of offences. And his former employer, Merseyside Police, has now officially confirmed that his behaviour has led to him being placed on the College of Policing barred list.
The public database contains the names and details of police officers and staff who have been dismissed from the UK's forces because of misconduct. According to a listing on Merseyside Police's website, an accelerated gross misconduct hearing, held on July 15, found Hughes had breached the standards of professional behaviour to the level of gross misconduct.
It said Hughes, "in accessing force systems for a non-policing purpose and knowingly passing information when not authorised to, and for being convicted of 11 offences...acted in a manner that has the propensity to bring the police service into disrepute". The ECHO understands Hughes, who was suspended following his original arrest, did not attend the hearing. He was dismissed without notice.
Court sentencing and background
During Hughes' sentencing hearing, Chloe Fordham, defending, said he was an "extremely dedicated officer" who had been injured twice in the line of duty. Both of these instances were covered by the ECHO, including in 2016 when he was stabbed while working undercover. Ms Fordham added: "He has obtained pride [being a police officer], it was a huge part of his identity and self-worth. If the court is thinking of a deterrent sentence then it is vital to say a huge deterrent is the loss of employment, at least some of his pension, and the criminal investigation and conviction."
Hughes used systems, including the police national computer (PNC) and Merseyside Police's specific network, Niche, to carry out repeated unauthorised checks about some of these people. The court heard between 2016 and 2021 he carried out searches for individuals including Steven Noone, Phillip Lam, Anthony Harrison and Frederick Connolly. These men were involved in serious crimes including large-scale fraud and EncroChat drug dealing.
Investigation and conviction
The Crown Prosecution Service said information Hughes shared to friends, such as how much Noone had to pay back under the Proceeds of Crime Act, was "snooping" which led to "gossipy" messages. He was initially arrested in March 2022 on an unrelated matter and an investigation was launched. Following his arrest his phone proved his association with the criminals. Even after his initial arrest, he continued to exchange messages about social outings including "trips to the races".
Hughes, of Armstrong Quay in Dingle, was convicted by a jury of eight counts of unauthorised access to computer material and three counts of disclosing personal data without the consent of the data controller. The same jury found him not guilty of dozens of other charges. Sentencing, Judge Alan Conrad KC said: "You were a diligent, industrious police officer who displayed courage in the line of duty…[but] you continued inappropriate relationships with a number of people involved in criminality. It is not an offence and you were not charged with misconduct in a public office, but your personal life put you in a position where conflict could arise and it must have been apparent to you that socialising and going on holiday with such people was wrong."
Olivia Travis, from the Crown Prosecution Service's Mersey-Cheshire complex casework unit, said: "Daniel Hughes was a corrupt police officer who abused his position to access sensitive information. He maintained longstanding relationships with offenders involved in drugs and firearms, which he deliberately concealed despite a clear duty to declare them. Hughes received training on the proper handling of police information but chose to ignore it. His actions demonstrated a complete disregard for the trust placed in him and for the integrity of the criminal justice system. The jury has rejected his account that he was acting in the course of his duties. He has now been held accountable for his criminal conduct."
