A police officer leaked information about an undercover operation after hacking into police systems.

Richard Pendlebury was once commended by the force for heroism after being attacked by a suspect during a chase. He was acquitted of shoplifting charges 18 months ago.

Now the 43-year-old, who was a sergeant based in Bury, has been sacked for ‘dishonest’ behaviour which could have derailed investigations.

A Greater Manchester Police disciplinary hearing was told he gave details of a covert operation to catch out benefit fraudsters to his partner, who passed the information on to a friend.

It is understood Pendlebury revealed details of the car undercover officers would be in, having gained unauthorised access to electronic police files.

Back in 2005, Richard Pendlebury was handed an award for courage after he was stabbed and sprayed with CS gas.

Now he has lost his career having being found to have committed gross misconduct by ‘accessing police systems without a police purpose and divulging parts of this information to a member of the public relating to surveillance tactics.’

Father-of-four Pendlebury’s dismissal comes 18 months after he was acquitted of shoplifting charges.

Deputy Chief Constable Ian Pilling said: “Sergeant Richard Pendlebury breached the standards of professional behaviour expected by all employees of Greater Manchester Police.

“In accessing police systems without a police purpose and divulging parts of this information to a member of the public, Sgt Pendlebury revealed sensitive information about surveillance tactics.

“As a result he breached our clear standards in relation to confidentiality, honesty and integrity and this amounted to discreditable conduct.

“A full investigation was carried out and following a special case hearing, Chief Constable Freeman of Humberside Police deemed his behaviour to be gross misconduct and he was dismissed.

“What’s clear in this case is that the officer’s actions were dishonest in that he knew the information was sensitive and not for distribution and divulging it would amount to a breach of professional standards.

“In addition, his actions potentially compromised information that had been given to GMP from a third party and had the potential to impact on live or future investigations.

“This officer’s actions could obviously damage public confidence in policing and bring discredit on it.”

Speaking after the hearing, Mr Pendlebury said: “I will be challenging the decision made by GMP.”

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