A former Bedfordshire Police officer who accessed force systems to check on a case involving a relative has been deemed to have committed gross misconduct.

David Holmes was a serving constable when he searched for information about an ongoing case twice in 2013 – on April 15 and December 7.

There is no evidence to suggest PC Homes – who resigned from the police in April this year – passed the information on to any third party.

An investigation was carried out by the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Professional Standards Department, and as a result a special case hearing for gross misconduct was heard on Thursday at Bedfordshire Police headquarters in Kempston.

Beds chief constable Jon Boutcher found PC Holmes’ conduct amounted to gross misconduct for confidentiality and discreditable conduct. The sanction was deemed to be a final written warning had he been a serving officer.

The chief constable said: “It is a personal frustration that former PC Holmes accessed this material some five years ago.

“I am inherently aware of the trust put in police to hold such data and of the negative impact such a misuse of police systems has on the trust that we rely on from our communities.”