Officer who tipped off Press faces prison term

Emma Smiter’s illegal tip-offs, one of which related to an allegation of attempted murder, appeared in reports in national newspapers including The Sun and Daily Mirror.

The material, gleaned from Hertfordshire Police computers, was passed to a news agency journalist and then on to the wider media.

A jury at Basildon Crown Court found Smiter, 26, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, guilty of misconduct in a public office and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Smiter, a former local newspaper reporter, had denied the charges.

Adjourning the case for pre-sentence reports to be prepared, Judge Christopher Mitchell warned the mother-of-one that a jail sentence was “absolutely inevitable”.

Detective Chief Inspector Dean Patient, head of anti-corruption at Hertfordshire Police, said Smiter’s behaviour had exposed a “vulnerable victim of crime” whose anonymity “should have been protected by law”.

“This has been an extremely serious case in which a member of staff has deliberately breached confidentiality rules and given the media inappropriate information to the detriment of the constabulary and victims of crime,” he said.

“In addition, PCSO Emma Smiter sought to pervert the course of justice by presenting false evidence.

“Her position with the force will now be reconsidered.”

Mr Patient added: “Any member of staff knows that they face serious consequences if they are convicted of offences of this nature which can only serve to undermine the public’s confidence in the police service,”

Smiter will be sentenced on April 18.