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A disgraced cop used police intelligence systems to snoop on the secrets of two of his girlfriends and their ex-boyfriends.

PC Grant McCabe, who is almost certain to be sacked by Merseyside Police , was lambasted by Liverpool’s top judge for damaging the reputation of the force with his “curiosity”.

The former Royal Navy intelligence officer snooped on his current partner “to check if she was a suitable companion” in the early stages of their relationship, and looked at details of court cases involving an ex.

The 43-year-old, of Bethany Court in Moss Hey, Spital, was spared jail at Liverpool Crown Court today after admitting seven counts of breaching the Data Protection Act, and seven of causing a computer to function to enable unauthorised access to data.

The Recorder of Liverpool, Judge Clement Goldstone, QC, told McCabe, who is suspended on full pay, he could “just not keep his nose out of other people’s business”.

He said: “Any impropriety undermines trust and confidence that the public have in the force.

“Quite shortly, there is no place for you or someone like you in the police in general, or in Merseyside Police in particular, which strives to ensure that the right people are recruited and strives to ensure that trust in police can be gained and retained.

“Nobody knows better than you how fragile in Merseyside that trust can be and the massive harm that can be done to the organisation’s exercise of gaining the public’s trust.”

Nick Cockrell, prosecuting, told the court the many of the offences related to a woman McCabe began a relationship with in 2005, who he met while arresting a man over a domestic disturbance.

Mr Cockrell said: “As a result of investigations into the defendant’s computer activity, between October 2007 and November 2016, a computer audit found he had accessed personal data upon Merseyside Police systems.

“Generally speaking he was making checks upon people known to him through his personal circumstances.”

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Mr Cockrell said that relationship broke down, but McCabe began a new relationship in 2016 and on one occasion found the address of her ex, before checking on Google where he lived.

After hearing about his checks on his current partner, Judge Goldstone said: “No doubt he was wanting to know whether she would be suitable for him.

“If curiosity may kill the cat it’s a miracle it didn’t kill this relationship.”

Mr Cockrell said there was no suggestion that McCabe had used the information to cause any harm to the individuals involved, and had not attempted to interfere with any police investigation.

The court heard he admitting accessing the information when he was confronted by detectives.

Julian Nutter, defending, said his client was “not bent” and said he spent 10 years in the Royal Navy dealing with highly sensitive classified information.

He said: “There are far worse examples than this (of police misconduct). This is a man who has retained his basic integrity, he’s not gone bent in the sense of the rotten apple. He deeply regrets his actions and will not trouble the courts again.”

Mr Nutter said his client recognised he had let down his colleagues and is already likely to be punished by losing his career.

Judge Goldstone said: “I just wonder how you, Grant McCabe, would have felt if you knew or came to realise that someone, with no right to the information, was finding out about the many skeletons which there are now in your cupboard. You would be appalled, and rightly so.”

The judge said the fact the data had not been used to cause any harm, McCabe’s history of serving his country and his guilty pleas meant he could suspend a prison term.

McCabe was sentenced to nine months in jail, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

He was also slapped with a six month curfew of between 7pm and 7am, monitored by a tag, and ordered to complete 20 rehabilitation activity days with the Probation Service.