'Abused his position' | Council worker spared jail after four-day snooping spree on personal data

A council worker who unlawfully accessed hundreds of personal records has been handed a suspended sentence after an investigation by the ICO.

Geoffrey Smith, 31, from Ledbury, Herefordshire, was a new employee at Herefordshire Council working in the Children and Young People directorate.

His conduct was discovered after concerns were raised within the council about potential unauthorised access to a referral case, prompting an investigation into other records he had accessed.

That investigation revealed that, over a four-day period, Smith unlawfully accessed approximately 490 records and downloaded 94 documents. The records related to his family members and families known to him and included children and adults.