A former Cambridgeshire Police Community Support Officer has been jailed for five years after being found guilty of leaking confidential information to a drug dealer.

Gurpal Shehri, 28, of Glinton Road, Milking Nook, Peterborough, was convicted today (September 20) following a trial at St Alban’s Crown Court.

The jury took six-and-a-half hours to reach a majority verdict of 11 to one.

They decided Shehri had disclosed information from police systems to a known criminal between April 1 and July 9, 2013.

He had already pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation, relating to his failure to disclose a caution during his application to join the constabulary between September 2008 and May 2009.

However, the judge treated this conviction as an aggravating factor and did not hand down a separate sentence.

Deputy Chief Constable Alan Baldwin said: “We take this type of offence very seriously and a thorough investigation was carried out as soon as information was received to suggest there was wrongdoing.

“Full recruitment checks were carried out when he joined the force in April 2009. This came back clear because, when cautioned for the previous offence in Leicestershire, he had provided his brother’s date of birth. He also signed a declaration that he had never been cautioned or convicted of any offence when he joined.”

Shehri was suspended on July 16, 2013, the day of his arrest. He attended a disciplinary meeting on August 23, 2013, and was dismissed with immediate effect.