A policeman accused of breaching data protection laws by allegedly checking up on his ex had previously been warned not to have anything to do with her case, a court has heard.
Detective Constable Euan Duthie is accused of two charges of accessing the Grampian Police Crime File system twice without permission, and for non-policing purposes.
Duthie, whose address was given as care of Police Scotland, denies accessing the secure information himself, however he accepts that the files were viewed on February 27 and April 2, 2012 using his unique username and password.
The 44-year-old went on trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court earlier this year, but the case was adjourned until yesterday due to a lack of court time.
As the case resumed, Detective Sergeant Murray King told the court he had originally been approached by Duthie a few days before a drugs warrant was due to be executed at his former partner’s home.
He said Duthie, who was part of the major investigations team, was concerned that if the search was carried out in the morning, his teenage son may be implicated if any drugs were found.
DS King said he reassured Duthie that the search was due to be carried out in the afternoon. Duthie was also advised not to have anything further to do with the case and was told he would be informed by other officers what had happened when the search was over.
The court heard that when Duthie became aware his former partner was of interest to the police he told his superiors, who made him sign a minute of agreement which stated he would have nothing to do with any cases against her.
As a result of the agreement, professional standards monitored Duthie’s computer usage.
However, during a six month review they discovered a crime file relating to her had been accessed by Duthie’s user name and password on two separate days.
Duthie insists someone else must have “hopped onto a computer he was using” to check the file, which had been created by former Detective Constable Lee Ballantyne.
Giving evidence yesterday, Mr Ballantyne – who now works offshore but had 11 years of police service – said he could not remember any occasion during his 11 years in the police when he would have used another officer’s log-in details to access or change a crime file.
The trial, before Sheriff Christopher Shead, continues.