PC cleared in licence case

A policeman accused of misusing a highly confidential Criminal Intelligence System to access classified information for two friends seeking pub licences walked free this week after he was acquitted. PC Julian Tristan Connor, 48, from Enfield, was acquitted on Monday after successful submissions of no case to answer at Southwark Crown Court. PC Connor, a community liaison officer at Enfield, had made multiple inquiries concerning the Bell in Hertford Road, Enfield, and the Goat, at High Street, Ponders End. He denied 11 charges of unlawfully obtaining personal details including the date of birth, home address and vehicle details of individuals. His barrister, Ian Stern, said the case should be stopped because some of the 11 counts involved people the prosecution had not proved were still alive and, in relation to others, there was no evidence of the limits of data obtained. Judge Christopher Hardy told the jury the case concerned a "new and complex area of the law" regarding the Data Protection Act and the prosecution had not produced sufficient evidence. PC Connor was friends with Alan Jones and Richard Harris and searched for both of them on the computer, the court heard. In late 2000 both men acquired an interest in the Bell and on January 10, 2001, applied for a licence to sell alcohol. On November 1, 2001, they gained a controlling interest in the Goat and again applied for an alcohol licence. Both were successful.