COP HACKS EX-LOVER
OFFICER ABUSES SENSITIVE POLICE DATA BASE
A JEALOUS police officer caught in the middle of a cop love triangle fronted Townsville Magistrates Court yesterday.
Senior Constable Christopher Steven O’connell, 38, pleaded guilty to two charges of computer hacking.
A JEALOUS police officer caught in the middle of a cop love triangle has landed in court after he looked up his former partner on a restricted police system.
Senior Constable Christopher Steven O’connell, 38, fronted Townsville Magistrates Court yesterday to plead guilty to two charges of computer hacking. O’connell ( left) breached the trust of his position to look up his lover, who is also a police officer, on internal police systems before the relationship had started and again after he discovered she was having an affair with another cop, a Townsville magistrate was told.
Police prosecutor Senior Sergeant Roger Beal said O’connell was charged with two counts of using a restricted computer without consent amid an investigation after he was hit with stalking charges in October last year.
Mr Beal said O’connell used Qprime (Queensland Police Records and Information Management Exchange), an internal system used in day-to-day police operations, to search the woman’s name. “The system contains confidential information in relation to members of the police service and the general public,” he said. “The system is to be used for official purposes or for business only.”
Between March and June 2017, O’connell searched her name on the system a handful of times before their relationship began. Through the searches, he was able to view the woman’s phone number, address, licence details and other information.
Two months after he first looked her up, O’connell and the woman began a two-year relationship from June 2017 until June 2019.
However, the unauthorised searches led to a charge of using a restricted computer without consent to cause gain.
Despite his pleading guilty to this offending, O’connell’s defence claimed he had “no recollection” of the searches.
He was also charged with using a restricted computer without consent to look up the woman and her new lover in August-september last year.
In court, the unlawful stalking charge was dismissed by the prosecution, with Mr Beal saying police could offer no evidence on the charge.
Defence lawyer Calvin Gnech said O’connell was a decorated veteran with decades of service to the country in East Timor as well as in the Northern Territory and Queensland police services.
He was stood down from regular duties in November last year but still works as a police officer.
Magistrate Ken Taylor said it was important the punishment act as a deterrent. O’connell was fined $1200 and Mr Taylor imposed a five-year stalking restraining order.