Police officer jailed for passing sensitive information to known criminal

A PC has been jailed for illegally accessing police computer systems and passing sensitive information to a known criminal she had a relationship with.

PC Lorna Pennycook, 38, researched information across various West Midlands Police systems between 2017 and 2021 and passed information to boyfriend Anthony Kennedy.

Pennycook began her relationship with Kennedy, 43, who has 18 previous convictions for offences such as vehicle theft, theft from vehicles, and possession of criminal property, in 2016 after meeting him on a dating site.

Between 2017 and 2021, she provided Kennedy with sensitive police information in relation to him, his vehicles, his associates, as well as crime in the Sandwell area of Birmingham, which she did not have responsibility for policing.

She also carried out checks for outstanding warrants for Sandwell – where Kennedy lived – 42 times between 2017 and 2021 compared with only a handful of checks in that time for other areas she did not police.

Recovered messages between the pair showed that when Kennedy first found out that Pennycook was a police officer in 2017, he wanted to end the relationship.

But Pennycook responded by telling him that she had “accepted everything” about him, adding: “You don’t choose who you love”.

Between August and November 2017, Pennycook, who worked with the West Midlands Police Birmingham east and west organised crime and gangs teams, sought information about two HGV thefts Kennedy was involved in on 22 August 2017 and 26 October 2017.

She searched systems for warrants and suspects, and viewed police logs for both thefts, which contained information about the investigations.

Kennedy was later sentenced to 32 months’ imprisonment for the offences.

Various other checks for associates of Kennedy and related warrants were carried out over the four-year period, some of which followed instruction by Kennedy. The information provided Kennedy with an advantage and on some occasions the potential to impede active police investigations.

Pennycook was aware that what she was doing was wrong and often instructed Kennedy to delete the messages between them, and in February 2021, she asked Kennedy to obtain a “burner” phone for her to use for their contact.

In her initial police interview following her arrest, Pennycook claimed that Kennedy had ruined her life and that she acted as she did because she was in fear of him.

However, the call data and text message evidence did not support her claims, showing Pennycook had contacted Kennedy significantly more times than he had called her and that he had blocked her number on several occasions. On one day, she tried to call him 81 times, and he only answered three of those calls.

Pennycook pleaded guilty to one offence of misconduct in public office in March 2023.

After initially pleaded not guilty to encouraging or assisting offences believing one or more will be committed, Kennedy changed his plea to guilty in March 2024.

Pennycook, who resigned from West Midlands Police shortly after her arrest, was today sentenced to four years' imprisonment at Birmingham Crown Court.

Kennedy was also sentenced to four years' imprisonment. 

The prosecution followed an investigation carried out by West Midlands Police Anti-Corruption Unit under the direction of the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Malcolm McHaffie, Head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime Division, said: “Lorna Pennycook became infatuated with Anthony Kennedy, and provided him with extremely sensitive information over a four-year period.

“There is evidence that Kennedy encouraged her to conduct the criminal searches on some occasions, but Pennycook must also take responsibility for her shameful actions, which have risked damaging public trust and confidence in police officers.

“She persuaded Kennedy that she could assist him when he attempted to break off the relationship and must now face the consequences of passing confidential material to a convicted criminal.

“The CPS will not hesitate to bring charges against those who abuse their position in such a dishonest way.”