A former Merseyside Police officer convicted of computer misuse and unlawful data disclosure has been sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, after a jury found him guilty of abusing police systems to benefit his criminal associates.
Daniel Hughes, 40, of Liverpool, was found guilty at Manchester Crown Court on 17 June 2026, following a trial that began on 20 April 2026. He had denied all charges.
What the Merseyside Police Officer Convicted at Manchester Crown Court Actually Did
Between 2016 and 2019, Hughes repeatedly queried police computer systems to retrieve intelligence on friends who were involved in serious organised crime, including matters relating to firearms and drugs. He then went further: between 2019 and 2021, he shared sensitive details of live police investigations with those same individuals.
Throughout, Hughes concealed his relationships from the force, despite a professional duty to declare them. He had not merely crossed paths with these individuals: according to CPS Mersey-Cheshire, he had socialised with them and gone on holidays with them over many years.
The jury convicted Hughes on eight counts of unauthorised access to computer material and three counts of knowingly disclosing personal data without consent. He was acquitted of further counts on both charges.
Sentence, Penalty, and the Misconduct Hearing
At sentencing on 6 August 2026, the court imposed the suspended custodial term alongside a community order. BBC News reports the order includes 250 hours of unpaid work; the CPS press release refers to 10 days of rehabilitation activity. Both figures appear to reflect separate components of the same community order. Hughes was also fined £750.
Judge Alan Conrad KC told the court he had ‘detected a degree of arrogance’ from Hughes during the trial, adding that Hughes ‘thought you knew better than others above you in the force.’ Hughes had already been dismissed from Merseyside Police before sentencing, following a separate misconduct hearing.
Prosecutor Olivia Travis, of CPS Mersey-Cheshire’s Complex Casework Unit, described Hughes as a ‘corrupt police officer who abused his position to access sensitive information’ and said he ‘maintained longstanding relationships with offenders involved in drugs and firearms, which he deliberately concealed despite a clear duty to declare them.’
A second prosecutor, Laura Barbour, characterised his behaviour as ‘snooping’ that produced ‘gossipy’ messages with friends. There was no evidence Hughes profited financially from the information he passed on. Even after his arrest, The Register reports, he exchanged messages about social outings including trips to the races.
The Legal Framework
The unauthorised access counts were brought under the Computer Misuse Act 1990, which criminalises access to computer material without authorisation. The data disclosure counts engaged data protection legislation governing the lawful handling of personal information by public authorities. Police officers occupy a position of particular trust in relation to both regimes: force systems hold intelligence on suspects, victims, and witnesses, and their misuse by serving officers is treated by courts and prosecutors as an aggravated breach of that trust.
Hughes’s case followed the pattern the CPS has pursued in a series of prosecutions of officers who exploited access to the Police National Computer and force intelligence systems for personal purposes. The combination of concealed relationships with known offenders and active disclosure of operational intelligence placed his conduct toward the graver end of that spectrum, even where no financial gain could be proved.
Subject to any onward appeal, Hughes now carries a suspended sentence that will activate if he commits a further offence within the two-year operational period. The misconduct finding means he is also barred from returning to policing.
