A CORRUPT cop who stole and sold the contact details of car crash victims has been jailed, leaving Thames Valley Police facing a fine of up to £500,000.

Former Oxford-based Pc Sugra Hanif, was yesterday sentenced to three-and-a-half years behind bars after being found guilty of conspiring to commit misconduct in public office.

Judge Andrew Barnett told the 27-year-old: “You are a disgrace to the uniform you once wore.”

And he added: “The reputation of Tha-mes Valley Police has been tarnished by your actions.”

The force could now be fined up to £500,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and faces further financial claims from 5,000 people whose details were potentially breached, Winchester Crown Court heard.

Last night, though, officials from the ICO said there were no ongoing enquires into the case.

Prosecutor Peter Asteris told the hearing: “The actual size of the fine they face is unknown because the level and amount of data obtained is unprecedented. However, it could be up to half a million pounds.

“The number of man hours required to write to nearly 5,000 individuals, who can make a separate financial claim, will impact on fighting crime.”

Hanif, from Bretch Hill in Banbury, accessed 2,454 files on the police national computer system between April 2011 and December 2011.

She then phoned 644 victims and urged them to claim compensation as she posed as a worker from the car repairs company owned by her married lover Raza Khan, 27 – who has been jailed for three years.

The details were then passed to insurance firms, who paid referral fees of £600, in the scam that made the couple at least £26,000.

Nicholas Worsley, defending Hanif, told the court: “She was love sick and blinded to what she was doing by her emotions for her co-accused.”

He added: “She is remorseful, depressed, and has been admitted to hospital after taking an overdose of paracetamol.

“Her marriage will likely fall apart and her friends and family have fallen away. Prison will be particularly difficult for a police officer.”

But Judge Barnett, sentencing, told Hanif: “A deterrent sentence must be set and an example must be made.”

Oxford Mail:

Judge Andrew Barnett

Hanif was this month sacked from the force following her conviction.
Det Ch Supt Tim De Meyer, head of professional standards at the force, yesterday said: “It is vital that people have complete trust in Thames Valley Police and its officers. We are pleased that justice has been done.”

And Clive Benson, Thames Valley Police Federation secretary, said: “There is a degree of trust that officers are expected to uphold in office. Any breach of that trust results in sanction and it has been reflected in the sentence by the court. What she did was totally unacceptable and we cannot have police officers who do that.”

A confiscation hearing will be heard at a later date when the prosecution will try to reclaim the money made by Hanif and Khan.

An Information Commissioner’s Office spokesman last night said: “One of the conditions for our office issuing a penalty is that the breach must either have been deliberate, or the organisation must have known, or ought to have known, that there was a risk that a contravention would occur and failed to take reasonable steps to prevent it.”

Khan, of Ivy Road, Handsworth in Birmingham, was jailed for three years after he was also found guilty of conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office.
HIs wife, Paramjeet Kaur, 26, from Birmingham, was acquitted of the crime.