A special constable passed confidential and sensitive police information to her parents.

Grace Crawford had given details of her family's neighbours when the two households were in dispute.

It included details of alleged drug activity in the neighbours' household and pictures of one of its members in custody.

Now, a Kent Police public misconduct hearing found her guilty of gross misconduct and ruled that if she was still in the force she would have been instantly sacked.

The ruling now means that Crawford, who had resigned, cannot work in any UK police force.

The hearing on Crawford, who worked in the Thanet, Folkestone and Hythe districts, took place at Kent Police Headquarters in Maidstone today.

Kent Chief Constable Alan Pughsley, who presided over the hearing and made the rulings, said: "The behaviour is of a very serious level. The public, quite rightly, expect the police to treat sensitive and confidential information with care and respect.

" This belief is absolute and has to be upheld.

"Ex Special Constable Crawford has fallen way below the standard expected and the public could not any longer have trust in her in her role."

Crawford had first joined Kent Police as a Thanet-based special constable on June 18, 2016.

She then had an additional role as a full-time designated detention officer for Shepway (now Folkestone and Hythe) from March 20, 2017.

This is a civilian post but still in the employment of Kent Police.

Det Ch Insp Keith Roberts, from the team that investigated Crawford, told the hearing that she had had several times accessed police computer systems and disclosed information to her parents.

He said: "It concerned neighbours that she and her family were having domestic issues with."

Crawford was arrested on July 31, 2018 and later interviewed under police caution.

She was suspended but resigned from both her roles, leaving the force completely on October 7.

"It concerned neighbours that she and her family were having domestic issues with..." Det Ch Insp Keith Roberts

DCI Roberts said; "She fully admitted the allegations in interview. In mitigation she said there were ongoing issues she and her parents were experiencing with their neighbours regarding anti-social behaviour."

He said that last May and July, for example, Crawford had accessed information about alleged drug activity in a neighbouring property.

Last July she also took images of a neighbour in custody and passed them to her parents along with the detainees' full name and date of birth.

Crawford was formally found to have accessed a police computer on multiple occasions, between 2017 and 2018, to carry out unauthorised searches and passed on some of the information to a third party.

It was determined her behaviour breached Kent Police's standards of behaviour..

Crawford did not attend the hearing and it carried on in her absence.

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