Cumbria police investigator jailed for sharing sensitive information
Barry Cowin admitted seven offences after misusing police databases
A former financial investigator who worked for Cumbria Police has been jailed after illegally accessing police systems and sharing confidential information.
Barry Cowin has been jailed for four months after pleading guilty to seven offences.
The court heard Cowin abused his position to look up financial and criminal records on people he knew.
He also used police systems to check details such as the registered keeper of a vehicle involved in a collision linked to a friend’s partner.
He also shared information about people's criminal records.
Cowin joined the force as an officer in 1985 before moving into a civilian investigator role in 2015.
He carried out the offences between August 2022 and June 2024 and retired during the investigation.
He was later charged with four counts of unauthorised access to computer material and three counts of unlawfully sharing personal data.
IOPC Director Amanda Rowe said “As a police employee and former officer, Barry Cowin should have been upholding the law but instead he accessed and shared sensitive private information he had no right to.
“His experience meant he knew perfectly well what was expected of him, which makes this abuse of trust even worse.
“Thanks to the professional work of the force, under the direction of our Anti-Corruption Unit, the scale of his offending was uncovered, and he has now been held accountable.”