UK: Paralegal faces prison sentence for passing sensitive data to criminals
By The Law Society Gazette
Published
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Rachel Simpson, 39, pleaded guilty at Cardiff Crown Court to two counts of misconduct in public office and 29 counts of unauthorised access of computer systems.
A paralegal working for the Crown Prosecution Service has admitted accessing private records from her employer’s computer systems on multiple occasions.
Rachel Simpson, 39, pleaded guilty at Cardiff Crown Court to two counts of misconduct in public office and 29 counts of unauthorised access of computer systems. The offences took place between 2016 and 2020.
Simpson, a paralegal officer at the CPS Wales office, was arrested in June 2020 by officers from the South Wales Police Anti-Corruption Unit. Her involvement had been discovered during an investigation into the use of encrypted systems by criminals.
Andrew Penhale, chief crown prosecutor, said: ‘As a CPS employee, Rachel Simpson was in a position of trust and was expected to only access sensitive and confidential information when necessary for her job. She regularly accessed material when there was no business need and, on two occasions, the sensitive material she obtained was passed on to organised criminals.’
The CPS said action is underway to ensure it learns from the issues identified in the case and to prevent it happening again.
Simpson, from Newport, was remanded in custody and warned by the judge she faced an ‘immediate and significant prison sentence’. She will be sentenced in March.
