A corrupt senior detective has been jailed for eight months for illegally tapping into police records to pass information on to her nightclub bouncer lover.
Detective Inspector Emma Gardner, 47, accessed computer logs 47 times over a period of nine months for Simon Acton, who she had slept with twice.
Prosecutor Andrew Scott said the files concerned 'a relatively minor complaint' and 'tittle-tattle' about a close male friend and three women.
The complaint was being dealt with by uniformed officers when Gardner decided to go through the logs between January and September 2022.
Her trial heard she accessed the confidential police system as many as four times a day while in touch with Mr Acton.
Gardner joined North Wales Police in 2000 and held a series of roles including with the Protecting Vulnerable People Unit.
She told the jury at Caernarfon Crown Court, north Wales, she had been commended for her dedication during an investigation.
Gardner claimed: 'I believe every access was for a policing purpose' when she denied unauthorised access during her trial.
Emma Gardner joined North Wales Police in 2000, where she worked across various roles, including in the Protecting Vulnerable People Unit
Gardner, of Colwyn Bay, Wales, was jailed for eight months
But a jury rejected her claims after finding she did pass information on to Mr Acton.
Judge Timothy Petts said: 'You repeatedly and unlawfully accessed case materials when you had no legitimate policing purpose to do this.
'The two of you were clearly close, as shown by the thousands of messages, some of them flirty or personal, that you exchanged in early 2022.
'You deliberately chose not to mention your close friendship with him, in case it led to an investigation into what you were doing. You knew you were acting improperly.
'You knew you could not be seen to be involved at all, or you would have been in trouble immediately.
'You knew the rules, and deliberately broke them on many occasions. You have not only let yourself down, but you've let down your colleagues at all ranks.
'An immediate prison sentence is needed to make it clear to everyone that even detective inspectors are not above the law.'
Gardner, of Colwyn Bay, Wales, was jailed for eight months.
She was convicted of causing a computer to perform a function to secure unauthorised access to a program/data, contrary to the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and accessing 13 digital occurrences linked to a friend without a policing purpose on 47 occasions between January 20 and September 22, 2022.
A senior officer said: 'Emma Gardner has now been sentenced by the court. Her behaviour was not only criminal, but far from the standards we expect from our officers.
'She was suspended during the investigation, and following her conviction she was subject to misconduct procedures where the Chief Constable determined had she not resigned, she would have been dismissed and has been placed on the barred list so she can never serve within policing again.
'She should have known better, and she breached our trust and that of the public.'
Leighton Mawer of the Crown Prosecution Service said: 'Emma Gardner abused the trust that was placed in her as a police officer.
'Police records contain sensitive information and must only be accessed for policing purposes.
'All police officers are held to high standards, but this officer's actions fell below those standards.
'The strong evidence presented by the Crown Prosecution Service resulted in the jury's guilty verdict.'
Gardner has now been banned from working for any force in England or Wales.
An accelerated misconduct hearing was held by North Wales Police and Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman and found an allegation of gross misconduct proven.
Gardner would have been dismissed without notice from her role if she had not already resigned. Her last day of service was August 10.
Chief Constable Blakeman said Gardner's conduct was 'deliberate, repeated and intentional', and said it 'plainly damages the reputation of the police service'.
She said Gardner 'was expected to be a role model for others', but committed a 'serious abuse of the trust placed in officers'.
She added: 'The officer held a senior rank, and occupied a position of trust and responsibility.
'This was not an isolated error, or a momentary lapse in judgment.'