A woman who shared confidential data while working for the police has been fined £1,500.

Sharen Judith Gardner shared the information in a family Whatsapp group, while she was working in a civilian role for the Isle of Man Constabulary.

The 55-year-old pleaded guilty to an offence of unlawfully obtaining personal data and was also ordered to pay £125 prosecution costs by magistrates.

We previously reported that the offence came to light after a mobile phone was seized by police in an unrelated matter.

While data on the phone was being reviewed, a Whatsapp conversation was discovered, which Gardner was a part of.

On May 10, 2023, in the conversation, she had shared a computer screen shot of the Police Connect system.

Gardner was said to have worked as a civilian in the financial crime investigations unit since May 2023, and before that had worked in another civilian role for the police.

In the Whatsapp group conversation with three family members, she had shared a screenshot and said: ‘These are intel reports.’

One of the members asked her if she could get into trouble, and Gardner replied: ‘I can get into trouble for sharing the info.’

She was permitted access to the documents, but was not permitted to share them to third parties, and had signed a non-disclosure agreement.

Gardner was arrested on April 11 in 2024, and during an interview, handed in a prepared statement admitting the offence.

The court heard that she has no previous convictions.

Defence advocate Jim Travers asked for credit to be given for his client’s guilty plea and interview admissions.

He entered a basis of plea on behalf of the defendant, in which Gardner said she had only shared one page of information, and only one line, which had been circled, was of interest to the others.

She said that she had only been in the role a few days when the incident occurred and that all three recipients had not shared or passed on the information.

Mr Travers said that it had been a spur of the moment indiscretion, which had blotted Gardner’s record after decades of dedicated service in the police force in other roles.

The advocate said that his client would have to face the consequences of her actions again, with her employer, as she was currently suspended at her workplace.

He said that she had suffered a great deal of embarrassment and upset after being arrested at her workplace upon returning from holiday, and that her employment situation was in jeopardy.

‘This was just a foolish episode.  She clicked a screenshot and pressed send.’

Mr Travers said that the offence had not come to light until 11 months afterwards, and that Gardner had continued in her role during that time, without incident.

Magistrates ordered the defendant, who lives at Queen’s Terrace in Douglas, to pay the fine and costs at a rate of £50 per week.