Dennis Hoyn: Ex cop passed on confidential information to Goran Despotovski
A former Campbelltown cop has been found guilty of passing on confidential police information to his mates - one of which was later revealed to be a convicted drug dealer.
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A former Campbelltown cop has been found guilty of four counts of wilful misconduct after unlawfully accessing, and passing on confidential police information to his mates.
Dennis Hoyn shook his head as he was found guilty of four counts of the charge and not guilty of two others by a jury at Wollongong District Court on Tuesday afternoon.
It can now be revealed that one of the men Hoyn supplied confidential information to was convicted Illawarra drug dealer Goran Despotovski.
The pair were due to stand trial together after Despotovski pleaded not guilty to making a collusive agreement with a member of the NSW Police. However, he changed his plea to guilty at the 11th hour.
His identity was suppressed until the jury reached a verdict during Hoyn’s trial.
Throughout the four days of evidence, the Crown dubbed Hoyn a ‘lone ranger’, telling the jury he illegally accessed the police force’s Computer Operational System (COPS) on several occasions between February and December 2018 while working as a highway patrol officer.
The Crown claimed Hoyn looked up number plates and names in the system after receiving texts from several people who asked for them.
“The Crown says that goes beyond the scope of his duties in public office,” Crown prosecutor Justine Hopper said during the trial.
“It was unlawful for the accused to access COPS, it was unlawful for him to disseminate that information, that is clear and overwhelming.”
However, Hoyn denied any wrongdoing, claiming he was acting well within his role as a police officer.
In handing down its verdict, the jury acquitted him of allegations he accessed COPS information for two friends in February and July 2018.
However, they found him guilty of accessing and releasing the data on four other occasions, one of these being to Despotovski at Corrimal Hotel on December 5 of that year.
During the trial, the jury heard Hoyn looked up details about another person for Despotovski, and took a photo of the information to show his new mate because he “felt sorry for him”.
Ms Hopper said his excuses for looking up the information were “pathetic”, while Hoyn’s defence lawyer Nichols Moir told the jury there was “no contest” that he accessed the system and recorded the information as suggested by the Crown, however argued that his client did not act unlawfully or outside of his duties.
“He was in a position to access, as he was authorised to, the COPS system and seek out info in order to either track down baddies, caution them, talk to them,” he said.
“He was helping people who were fearful for their loved ones.”
Following Tuesday’s verdict, a date was set for Hoyn’s sentencing in October.
His bail will continue until then.