A police officer who carried out unauthorised surveillance on her husband quit the force a day before she was due to attend a disciplinary hearing.

Former policer sergeant Tracy Houldey twice ordered a staff member to carry out a search of her husband’s car on the automatic number plate recognition system (ANPR) to check on his whereabouts.

The Cleveland Police officer claimed she had a legitimate policing purpose to have the search carried out but she was convicted of data breaches following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court.

A misconduct hearing was told that the former officer was fined £700 and ordered to pay £570 towards court costs following her conviction earlier this year.

Whilst working as a Temporary Inspector carrying out the role of Force Incident Manager (FIM) within the Force Control Room she ordered two searches to be carried despite knowing that her husband was at home safe and well.

The unauthorised searches were carried out in the early hours of the morning in October 2021.

The panel heard how she also claimed that she was worried about the ANPR system not working correctly at the time but an investigation showed she had raised no concerns with anyone else inside or outside of the force.

Chief Constable Mark Webster dismissed the officer’s claims and found it proven that the veteran officer, who had served for almost 29 years on the force, was guilty of gross misconduct.

“I don’t accept that she believed there was anything wrong with the ANPR system otherwise she would have said something at the time. There is no evidence that she expressed concern on the night,” he said.

“She carried out unauthorised surveillance of her husband which invaded his privacy.”

The ex-officer, who chose not to attend the hearing, had been facing two charges of breaching confidentiality and one of discreditable conduct following her conviction for her behaviour while working in the force control room.

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Detective Inspector Phil Agar, representing the force, said the ex-officer blamed the force’s Department for Standards and Ethics for her downfall claiming they were targeting ‘low hanging fruit’ instead of serious corruption.

He added: “She has one of the worst records in the force. She had been demoted for a previous corruption offence.”

Mr Webster dismissed the ex-officer’s claims about alleged bias and ruled that she would have been dismissed without notice had she still be serving with the force.

She was also placed on the College of Policing’s barred list which prevents her working for any other force in the country.