Ex-policeman gave inmates details of 87 officers, court told

Personal details of up to 87 police officers have allegedly been passed to inmates in a high security prison in the North by a jailed ex-policeman, a court has heard.

Kyle Martin Jones, aged 27, is accused of handing over the lists inside HMP Maghaberry, Co Antrim, during the last three months in exchange for coffee, cigarettes and food.

The former officer from Ballyclare, Co Antrim, who had been on remand in the prison on robbery charges, appeared at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court charged under the Terrorism Act with collecting information that could be used by terrorists.

A detective told district judge Alan White the documents contained extensive details about Jones’s former colleagues in the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), including names, family relationships, vehicles they drove, and lifestyle and personal habits. Both serving and retired officers were mentioned.

The court heard that during police interviews Jones, who served in the PSNI from 2005 to 2010, admitted compiling the lists, but insisted there was no sinister intent. In two prepared statements handed to detectives, he also claimed he had compiled a list containing details of 51 people from his university days.

Police uncovered his alleged scam when a fellow inmate contacted police and asked for a meeting. When an officer met the prisoner inside Maghaberry on Tuesday he produced a list with details of 42 officers on it, which he claimed had been produced by Jones.

Yesterday, an investigating detective who said he could connect Jones to the charge told the court what the prisoner had said to his colleague.

“He said he had been given this document by a fellow inmate in prison who was a former police officer and he believed this list wasn’t a one-off and others had been given to other inmates.”

The detective revealed that a handwriting expert had since matched the lists to notes made by Jones.

Jones, who had been released on bail late last month, was arrested on Wednesday and questioned at the PSNI’s Serious Crime Suite in Antrim.

The detective said he initially answered “no comment” to all questions.

However, after consulting his solicitor, Jones produced two pre-prepared statements at the next interview.

In them he admitted to being the author of the list. He denied malicious intent.

“He claimed they were for therapeutic purposes,” the detective said.

Jones’s lawyer, Andrew Moriarty, said his client was seeking psychiatric treatment and the lists were a form of writing therapy to stave off depression.

The judge acknowledged that writing was a form of therapy used by inmates inside prison, but added: “Writing about police officers does not seem to fall into that category.”

He remanded Jones in custody to appear before court via videolink at the end of the month.