A FORMER Avon and Somerset police officer who abused his position to look up information on a computer about a teenage boy has been banned from ever working again in the police.

PC Benjamin Pavey accessed details of the 13-year-old he had been accused of assaulting and then passed that on to a third party for non-policing purposes.

Allegations of gross misconduct have been proven against Pavey, who had previously been convicted of a computer misuse offence.

Pavey, who resigned in May this year before he could be sacked, was sanctioned at a special case hearing held at Avon and Somerset Police HQ today (Thursday).

Chief Constable Andy Marsh, who chaired the hearing, ruled the allegations against the former officer amounted to gross misconduct and he would have been dismissed if he hadn’t already resigned.

In July, Pavey was sentenced at Swindon Crown Court to 250 hours of unpaid work, a three-month curfew order and £500 court costs after admitting the computer misuse offence.

Ch Insp Mark Edgington, deputy head of the Professional Standards Department, said: “Although regulations allow an officer to resign while under investigation for gross misconduct, the misconduct process will still continue.

“In this case, a special case hearing was held and the resulting sanction now means the former officer will be placed on the National College of Policing’s barred list preventing him from working within policing and certain law enforcement bodies.

“The use of police systems to access information other than for a legitimate policing purpose is completely unacceptable and as in this case, can result in a criminal prosecution.

“We expect our officers and staff to handle sensitive data carefully and adhere to the proper use of systems at all times, without exception.”