Speed camera workers who helped get friends out of fines jailed
Two speed camera workers have been jailed for deleting data to help friends avoid fines. Samantha Halden-Evans, who worked for the Staffordshire[1] Safer Roads Partnership, was sentenced to four years and two months in prison yesterday, Thursday, December 21. The 36-year-old, from Cheadle, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office and two counts of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
Jonathan Hill, from Newcastle, who also worked for the Partnership, was sentenced to one year and six months in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office in January 2023. The Independent Office for Police Conduct said Halden-Evans and Hill conspired with each other between May 2019 and October 2020 to commit misconduct in public office. It said Halden-Evans had been deleting offence details so people known to herself or Hill would avoid speeding penalties.
She resigned from Staffordshire Police in August 2021 before a disciplinary hearing and Hill, 47, was dismissed from the force following a disciplinary hearing in December 2021. Deputy chief constable Jon Roy said: “The vast majority of our officers and staff conduct themselves professionally and work tirelessly to protect the public. We expect the highest levels of honesty and integrity from all of our officers and staff and anyone who falls below these standards will be held to account.”
Independent Office for Police Conduct director of operations Steve Noonan said: “The offences committed by these two individuals amounted to very serious corruption. In addition to the deletion of speeding offences, evidence showed that Hill was asking Halden-Evans to check whether people had been caught by cameras speeding on certain roads. She was also passing on details about whether speed cameras in Staffordshire were active or not, and there were other data breaches including one relating to a murder investigation.
“Such behaviour is a betrayal of the public’s trust and undermines confidence in policing. This investigation is testament to how seriously the IOPC, law enforcement agencies and the criminal justice system takes this kind of behaviour and I am grateful to all those involved in ensuring justice was served.” Ben Adams, co-chair of the Staffordshire Safer Roads Partnership, added: “It is absolutely vital that the public can have confidence in everyone engaged in Police activity, and in the activity of the Staffordshire Safer Roads Partnership.
Keeping our roads safe for the communities of Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent is too important to be undermined by the actions of a few individuals. “Whether those individuals are officers or staff makes no difference. Everyone within the organisation should be held to the very highest standards, and I welcome today’s outcome.”
Wayne Riley, 41, also from Cheadle, was sentenced to two years and eight months after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
Nikki Baker, 35, from Werrington, was sentenced to ten months after she pleaded guilty to the same offence.
References
- ^ Staffordshire (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
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