Glasgow High Court worker FINED after illegally using computer system to check up on fiance
A FISCAL officer who illegally tried to obtain information about relatives, including her future husband, was fined £420 yesterday.
Kirsten Fordham worked at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) headquarters in Glasgow’s Gorbals.
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The 30-year-old – a member of the Supreme Court’s sex offenses team – claimed as a new hire that she was trying to understand computer software.
She also stated that she was told by a colleague that she could see every file except that of former First Minister Alex Salmond.
Mr Salmond was at the time involved in criminal proceedings.
Fordham, of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, ended up being prosecuted by her previous employers.
The first perpetrator was found guilty in Glasgow Sheriffs Court of recklessly obtaining personal data without consent.
The charges ran between April and May 2019.
Fordham’s lawyer, Danielle McAlonan, yesterday tried to secure her client’s unconditional release.
If successful, the offense would have been struck from Fordham’s record.
Ms McAlonan told the court that due to media coverage of the trial, Fordham had been ordered to leave court while he worked as a community nurse at East Ayrshire Council.
The attorney stated that Fordham was then relieved of her duties.
She added, “Miss Fordham suffered with her mental health due to the media coverage, the nature of the trial and the length of the trial.”
“I think she’s been punished enough.”
Sheriff Michael Hanlon denied the parole request.
He said: “I have to keep in mind that it wasn’t just a single access to the system, it was a count over a period of time.”
“It must be distressing for her, but this is not grounds for a full discharge and I will uphold the conviction.”
Fordham’s contract meant he had no access to the files “unreasonably.”
But just weeks after taking office, Fordham first verified information about her father’s driving offense in 2006.
It was later revealed that she had accessed 52 cases in the COPFS system between April and May 2019.
Among other things, Fordham was looking for her then-boyfriend and now-husband Graham Postlethwaite.
After an investigation, she was fired from her post in October 2020.
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