A National Crime Agency director was fired from her £130,000 a year job for using a personal email account to send "sensitive" and "secret" material.
Nikki Holland, a former Assistant Chief Constable at Merseyside Police, was sacked last month after being found guilty of gross misconduct over "serious data breaches" by a disciplinary panel. The NCA's former Director of Investigations has time to appeal.
A separate investigation by policing watchdog the Independent Office of Police Conduct into allegations of data protection breaches, bullying and misuse of a corporate credit card concerning Ms Holland continues. As first reported by the Express, the NCA is also assessing a misconduct allegation in respect of Ms Holland amid allegations she told staff to set WhatsApp messages to "auto delete" during a defence challenge in a major organised crime prosecution.
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In respect to the completed misconduct case, the agency found no malicious intent and it was not referred for a criminal investigation. The NCA disciplinary panel looked at 16 allegations. Gross misconduct was found in two instances connected to her use of the private email.
Misconduct was found in two cases concerning use of WhatsApp to send sensitive NCA material and using WhatsApp on personal devices for NCA business. In the other 12 allegations no misconduct was found. An NCA spokesman told the Express: "While the panel did not find any malign intent in the breaches, the NCA expects the highest standards of conduct from all of our officers.
"Regarding the allegation not addressed as part of the accelerated (misconduct) proceedings, this is being assessed." He added in March last year the NCA published a policy providing clear guidance on use of encrypted applications on mobile phones.
Ms Holland was in charge of Operation Venetic – the national probe into people suspected of using the encrypted phone network EncroChat. More than 1,800 alleged EncroChat users have been charged, with around 400 already convicted.
Ms Holland, who has received the Queen's Policing Medal, began her career in Merseyside Police and rose through the ranks to become Assistant Chief Constable. As previously reported by the ECHO, she led both Merseyside and South Wales Police Forces' Regional Organised Crime Units before her appointment to the NCA in 2017.
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