Victoria Police has suspended a senior constable for allegedly leaking the images of former North Melbourne coach Dean Laidley in a police station.
A male senior constable has been stood down, and is expected to be charged, following the incident.
Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton fronted the media this afternoon, describing the privacy breach “totally appalling conduct”.
“The interview of the officer has only just occurred a short time ago,” the Deputy Commissioner stated. “We understand the officer has been cooperative and remorseful.”
“The conduct should not have occurred by the officer… Totally unacceptable, totally appalling conduct.”
Victoria Police have suspended the officer who leaked photos of Dean Laidley in custody. To talk more on this privacy breach, former Chief Magistrate @NickPapasQC joins @alicialoxley.
Story: https://t.co/7ap5MJP3i2 pic.twitter.com/lfesyWYSSF
— 9News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) May 4, 2020
The suspended senior constable could be charged with “unauthorised disclosure of information”, the Deputy Commissioner said, which could entail a $40k fine and up to two years behind bars.
“This is one of the most significant breaches of a person’s privacy and Victoria Police will not tolerate this sort of behaviour,” the force said in a statement to Nine News earlier in the day.
Laidley’s lawyer Dee Giannopoulos scorched the Victoria Police over the misconduct. “Outraged that pictures of my client, taken by some police officer, on the sly, when in custody in interview have hit the media,” she tweeted last night. “Typical #grossbreachofprivacy.”
