Lesbian PCSO jailed for passing secrets to other gay friends
A lesbian police community support officer (PCSO) in Wales has been imprisoned for ten months, for passing on confidential information to other gay people in her area, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Lisa Stapley, 39, was known among her friends as “Lisa Filth.” She was recruited by North Wales Police as part of its equality and diversity policy, which the Telegraph describes as “positive discrimination.”
Ms Stapley was sentenced today at the Mold Crown Court by Judge Philip Hughes, after she admitted to four charges of misconduct in public office.
She is known to have tipped off one lesbian friend, wanted for assault, with the text: “Get out of Wrexham, the police are looking for you.” In another case, Ms Stapley sent a string of text messages to a friend within minutes of an assault complaint being made, urging her to get out of town, and providing her with an idea for an alibi.
She was also known to have used the police force’s system to obtain information when her former civil partner was allegedly assaulted by her new partner. She sent a text-message to the former, saying: “How dare she lay a finger on you. God help her if I see her.” It was Ms Stapley’s new partner who raised concerns with the Wrexham police, who launched an official investigation.
Justice Hughes censured Ms Stapley for “gross breach of trust,” but added that there was no financial motive. Further, in three of the four charges, though serious, she was not pursuing any criminal actions, or prejudicing police operations, he added. These attempts were “misguided and naive,” he said, and that it was “the most serious aspect” of her offences.
