Cop rapped over illicit checks on ex’s new man

Feb 22 2009 by Coreena Ford, Sunday Sun

A COP who misused force computers to probe his ex-girlfriend’s new partner could be let off with little more than a warning, the Sunday Sun can reveal.

PC Mark Blanchard was investigated by Northumbria Police’s Professional Standards Department, after nightclub doorman Malcolm Brown accused him of carrying out unauthorised police checks on him last year.

The standards department upheld the complaint against PC Blanchard — who Mr Brown says delved into his personal information and traced his car — but has recommended that he is given just a warning.

The PC, of Stanley, County Durham, was based at the MetroCentre at the time, but has since been moved to duties in Gateshead.

Malcolm Brown, of Walker, Newcastle, who works at the Cosmic Ballroom Nightclub, also in Newcastle, began going out with a woman who works at the MetroCentre, last year.

She had previously been in a relationship with married PC Blanchard but it had ended before she met Mr Brown.

Last October, after they had been together for several weeks, the woman told Mr Brown that the police constable had been “checking him out” on the police computer.

She thought it was because he was “looking out” for her.

Mr Brown, of Walker, Newcastle, said: “I couldn’t believe it when I found out he was checking me out on the computer.

“I was furious, it is a total invasion of privacy.

“He had no reason to check me out, I had done nothing wrong.”

After Mr Brown complained to Northumbria Police, PC Blanchard was moved from his duties at the MetroCentre and an inquiry was launched.

The investigation heard that PC Blanchard also contacted a colleague of Mr Brown’s and arranged to meet up with them in a car park, where he was questioned about Mr Brown’s background and asked if he had ever taken drugs.

The inquiries started after the woman collapsed at the Cosmic Ballroom nightclub.