A former detective has been jailed for eight months for illegally accessing police logs about a man she knew and passing information onto him.

Emma Gardner, 47, from Colwyn Bay, Conwy, accessed restricted logs related to him and three others, despite having no professional reason to view the files.

The former detective inspector with North Wales Police had denied unauthorised access to computer material in 2022 but was found guilty by a jury.

During sentencing at Caernarfon Crown Court, Judge Petts said an immediate prison sentence was needed because "even detective inspectors are not above the law".

Petts said Gardener "deliberately broke the rules", letting herself down as well as her "colleagues of all ranks".

Gardner joined the force in 2000 and had various roles including with the Protecting Vulnerable People Unit.

Between 19 January 2022 and 23 September 2022, she accessed the records without authorisation on 47 occasions.

Caernarfon Crown Court heard she had passed information to the man, a former bouncer, regarding a minor complaint against him and a counter complaint he had made when she was previously an officer in Rhyl, Denbighshire.

Prosecutor Andrew Scott said Gardner had accessed logs involving "tittle-tattle", which was being dealt with by uniformed officers.

In one message, she said: "I have my uses."

The former officer insisted she had not viewed the logs because of her relationship with him.

"I believe every access was for a policing purpose," she said.

Her barrister argued she had been suffering from post traumatic stress disorder when the offences began as a result of some of the cases she had been dealing with.

Following her conviction in July, a misconduct hearing was held at North Wales Police headquarters.

Although she had resigned from the force it found her actions amounted to gross misconduct and had she still been a serving police officer, she would have been dismissed without notice.

Her name will be placed on the College of Policing Barred List, preventing her from working for the police in the future.

Speaking after the disciplinary hearing, Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman said the standards expect of those working in policing are "rightly high".

"Misuse of police systems and information undermines the trust that the public places in policing, and it is therefore right that robust action has been taken," she said.

Deputy Chief Constable Nigel Harrison said Gardner has "breached our trust and that of the public".