Senior Constable who leaked the address of a mate’s ex-wife has resigned from the police service
A senior constable convicted of leaking personal information about a friend’s ex-wife and her new partner has resigned from the Queensland Police Service following years of legal battles.
Police & Courts
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A senior constable who leaked the address of a friend’s ex-wife after accessing a police database has resigned from the Queensland Police Service following years of legal battles.
Neil Glen Punchard, 55, had a suspended prison sentence reinstated in August, following a successful appeal by the QPS.
The officer’s voluntary resignation from the QPS was accepted and effective from September 17, according to official documents viewed by the Courier Mail and later confirmed by a police spokesman in a written statement.
The road policing officer from the South Brisbane District was charged in December 2018 with nine counts of accessing the Queensland Police Records and Information Management Exchange computer program – known as QPrime – and leaking personal information about the woman, including her address, to her ex-husband over a one-year period from 2013.
The mother of three told the Courier Mail in 2019 that she had moved her family twice in three years – after first making sure the removalists were not being followed – after the officer passed her address along to her ex-husband, Punchard’s childhood friend.
The senior constable pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Magistrates Court in 2019 to nine counts of using a restricted computer without consent, gaining the benefit of knowledge, in 2013 and 2014.
He received two-month jail sentence, wholly suspended for 18 months, with a conviction recorded, but remained a serving police officer, on full-pay “administrative duties” at the time.
He was later suspended on full pay.
A back-and-forth lengthy court process ensued, with Punchard first winning an appeal against the jail sentence in 2020 with District Court Judge Craig Chowdhury instead re-sentencing the officer to 140 hours of community service with no conviction recorded.
On August 13 this year, the Court of Appeal allowed an appeal by the Commissioner of Police and set aside Judge Chowdhury’s orders.
The appeal court heard that Punchard had already completed the 140 hours of community service, but the appeal court judges said that fact “did not cause such an injustice” to the officer to be an impediment to their orders that would effectively reinstate the Magistrate’s sentence.
The QPS spokesman said Punchard was still suspended when he resigned.
“At the time of resignation he was formally suspended under Part 6.1 of the Police Service Administration Act 1990. In accordance with QPS policy, in August this year the QPS issued a show cause notice for suspension without pay, following the Supreme Court outcome reinstating the sentence in relation to nine offences of computer hacking,” he said.
“He resigned before showing cause or before any other action with respect to his ongoing employment could be finalised.
“As all court matters had been concluded QPS was bound to accept his resignation.”
The spokesman said Punchard’s conviction will remain a matter of public record which could impact future employment prospects but any benefits accrued through his service would be a private matter.
“Entitlements will be a matter for his superannuation fund,” he said.
Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll had been under pressure by both the victim and members of the community to sack Punchard, with an online petition calling for Punchard’s dismissal from the police service having reached 67,352 signatures to date.
She previously said she would consider his suitability to remain employed by QPS after the appeal process was finalised.
The victim filed a breach of privacy case against the QPS in Brisbane’s Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) in 2018.
Her complaint about the privacy breach was passed around between the QPS, the Crime and Corruption Commission, Ethical Standards Command and politicians for years, before QPS “substantiated” the complaint.
The QPS always denied the agency was liable for breaching the woman’s privacy.
Access to QPrime was tightened by the QPS in 2016, with members of the public now even prevented from accessing their own files.
The QPS spokesman said Ms Carroll had previously acknowledged a failure to discharge prescribed responsibilities in an ethical, professional and lawful manner eroded public trust and confidence in the QPS.
“The QPS has acknowledged that the unlawful or improper use of information can have significant consequences and impacts for those individuals whose privacy have been breached, and has expressed sincere regret,” he said.
Attempts have been made to contact Punchard on Sunday.
The victim’s ex-husband is understood to be in Greece and is wanted in Australia on charges of breaching a domestic violence order.
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