Policeman checked data on friends

A West Country policeman's career is in ruins after he checked friends' data on the force's computer.

Motorcycle officer, Constable Geoffrey Bachelor, 34, had an "almost obsessive attitude to his job", Bristol Crown Court was told.

Bachelor, of Exmouth, Devon, admitted five charges of obtaining information from the Devon and Cornwall police computer without permission.

Bachelor, who resigned from the force on Tuesday, was fined £1,000.

Nick O'Brien, prosecuting, said Bachelor used the computer system to check up on an old friend from his home town of St Austell in Cornwall and five people who were linked to him on the computer.

He also ran a check on a fellow motorcycle enthusiast in Devon.

Mr O'Brien said: "Over a period of time, knowing that these accesses had nothing to do with his duties as a road traffic officer, he made inquiries about people from the St Austell area which was 80 to 90 miles away."

Andrew Langdon, defending, said that Bachelor had been commended for his abilities with the force computer.

"His undoing was his almost obsessive attitude to his job.

"He wanted to know if there was anything he should be concerned about in terms of continuing to associate with his friends. He is here in court because he momentarily looked at something he should not have done."