PC Lorna Pennycook, from West Midlands Police, researched information across various police systems and passed information to partner Anthony Kennedy between 2017 and 2021
An “infatuated” PC who fed her secret criminal boyfriend sensitive police intel for several years has been jailed after admitting misconduct in public office.
PC Lorna Pennycook, 38, researched information across various police systems and passed information to partner Anthony Kennedy, 43, between 2017 and 2021. The crooked West Midlands Police officer began a relationship with the convicted criminal after meeting him on a dating site in 2016.
She provided Kennedy with data in relation to him, his vehicles, his associates and crime stats in the Sandwell area of the West Midlands. Ironically, she even begged him not to break up with her when he threatened to end the relationship because it could be damaging to his reputation with criminal pals.
Pennycook told him it would be “advantageous” if they stayed together, she had “accepted everything” about him, and added: “You don’t choose who you love”. A court heard Kennedy has 18 previous convictions for offences such as vehicle theft, theft from vehicles and possession of criminal property.
Pennycock later sought information about two HGV thefts Kennedy was involved in on August 22, 2017 and October 26, 2017. She searched systems for warrants and suspects, and viewed police logs for both thefts, which contained information about the investigations.
She also carried out checks for outstanding warrants for Sandwell – where Kennedy lived – 42 times in four years compared with only a handful of checks for other areas she did not police. The court heard the information provided Kennedy with an advantage and on some occasions the potential to impede active police investigations.
Kennedy, of Tipton, West Midlands, was eventually jailed for 32 months for the lorry jacking offences. Pennycook, who worked with the force’s organised crime and gangs teams, would often delete the messages between the pair.
She even asked Kennedy to obtain a “burner” phone for her to use for their contact in a bid to avoid detection. In her initial police interview following her arrest, Pennycook claimed that Kennedy had ruined her life and she acted as she did because she was in fear of him.
However, call data and text message evidence showed she had contacted Kennedy significantly more times than he had called her and that he had blocked her number on several occasions. On one day, she tried to call him 81 times, and he only answered three of those calls.
Pennycook, of Walsall, West Midlands, pleaded guilty to one offence of misconduct in public office in March last year. After initially pleading not guilty to encouraging or assisting offences believing one or more will be committed, Kennedy changed his plea to guilty in March this year.
Pennycook, who resigned from West Midlands Police shortly after her arrest, was today jailed for four years at Birmingham Crown Court. Kennedy was also sentenced to four years behind bars. The prosecution followed an investigation carried out by West Midlands Police Anti-Corruption Unit under the direction of the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
Malcolm McHaffie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime Division, said: “Lorna Pennycook became infatuated with Anthony Kennedy, and provided him with extremely sensitive information over a four-year period. There is evidence that Kennedy encouraged her to conduct the criminal searches on some occasions, but Pennycook must also take responsibility for her shameful actions, which have risked damaging public trust and confidence in police officers.
“She persuaded Kennedy that she could assist him when he attempted to break off the relationship and must now face the consequences of passing confidential material to a convicted criminal. The CPS will not hesitate to bring charges against those who abuse their position in such a dishonest way.”
