Prosecuting, Helen Rodger said each had a sexual relationship with men involved in crime, and should have known that these were “disclosable associations”.
The first time Doherty accessed information about an incident and passed it on to Robbie Braddock, with whom she was said to be in a relationship, was in December 2023, roughly two months after she completed her control room training.
Doherty shared details about the incident, a fight in which another male had smashed a window, with Braddock.
Rodger said a second incident involving Doherty on 6 March 2024, saw her access details about a search warrant being executed and pass on details about it to the same man as before.
Doherty viewed the details of the incident several times before also checking who was in custody at Ripley custody suite.
Fitzhugh, who was also said to be in a relationship with a man with a criminal record, looked up incidents in spring 2024, out of what the judge called “idle curiosity”.
The two women, who met while both working at McDonald’s before starting with the force, sat apart in the dock and were accompanied in court by their families.
Spencer speculated that maybe their “friendship has not survived this case” and said “I have little doubt that it will haunt you for the rest of your days”.
He said: “It’s impossible to recognise the young women who I read about, with such positive qualities, in the women who committed these offences.”
Defending Fitzhugh, Elizabeth Power said she had a “lack of awareness” about the “severity of the breaches that she made”.
Lowri Butterworth, for Doherty, told the court that she was “acutely aware” and had been using her time since to “give back” to her community.
Both women were charged in April following an investigation led by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) after conduct referrals.
Emily Barry, from the IOPC, said Doherty admitted supplying information to a man with known links to crime within a few months of her joining the force.
“Call handlers are privy to sensitive information and have access to confidential data on police systems,” she added.
“It’s incumbent on them not to inappropriately disclose information and to only access material for policing purposes.”
Barry said the pair were likely to be barred from working in policing again following respective misconduct hearings.
