Former staff member sentenced for police computer misuse offences 

A former member of police staff has been sentenced after being convicted of 11 counts of computer misuse. 

Laura Dean, who was based at Bridgwater Police Centre, pleaded guilty to all the charges at Exeter Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 12 August. 

The 33-year-old was sentenced at the same court today (Wednesday 16 September) to a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and 140 hours of unpaid work.  

Dean purposefully used a police computer system, Niche, to carry out searches on several individuals, including herself.  

None of the illegal searches Dean made were related to victims of crime she had contact with in a professional capacity. 

Dean (pictured below) resigned from her role at Avon and Somerset Police in September 2025.

A separate misconduct process has been running alongside the criminal investigation and will continue following Dean’s conviction. 

Detective Chief Inspector Joanne Hayward, of our Professional Standards Department, said: “Laura Dean deliberately accessed sensitive personal data of people without a lawful policing purpose, knowing full well that she should not be doing that. 

“While there is no evidence to suggest she used that information, the public will rightly be appalled that any police employee would act in such a way. 

“The fact that this has been dealt with by a criminal investigation should reassure the public how seriously we have viewed this matter and it has culminated in Dean being sentenced for her crimes.”