Alison Martland

Introduction

Alison Martland is a former police constable with Staffordshire Police who was dismissed without notice in June 2026 after being found to have accessed and shared police records. An investigation by the force’s Anti-Corruption Unit found that she had used police computer systems to look at the records of people known to her, without a legitimate policing purpose, and had passed the information to her family and to members of the public. A one-day accelerated gross misconduct hearing chaired by Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Emily Clarke found that her actions amounted to gross misconduct, and Martland — who was based in the south of the county — was placed on the College of Policing’s Barred List, which prevents her from working in policing and other law enforcement bodies again.

Background Information

Martland served as a police constable with Staffordshire Police and was based in the south of the county. The reporting on her case, published by the Express & Star on 19 June 2026, gives no details of her length of service, her age, or her specific postings beyond that base; what it records is the investigation and the hearing that ended her career.

The case originated with an investigation by the Staffordshire Police Anti-Corruption Unit, the force unit tasked with examining misuse of police systems and information by the force’s own officers. Its inquiry concluded that Martland had accessed police computer systems to look at records of people known to her, without any legitimate policing purpose, and had then shared the information with her family and with members of the public. The matter was handled as an internal police discipline case rather than a criminal one; no criminal charge or prosecution arising from it appears in the reporting.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated. The findings in this section come from a police gross misconduct panel, which found the allegations proven and issued its sanction at an accelerated hearing, decided on the civil standard. These are regulatory disciplinary findings, not criminal convictions: no criminal proceedings against Martland are reported. The panel’s sanction — dismissal without notice and placement on the College of Policing’s Barred List — bars her from working in policing and other law enforcement bodies again.

The conduct at issue was uncovered by the Staffordshire Police Anti-Corruption Unit, which found that PC Alison Martland accessed police computer systems to look at records of people known to her, without a legitimate policing purpose, and shared the information with her family and members of the public. The standards the panel found breached carry over directly from the force’s own account of the case: Deputy Chief Constable Caroline Marsh described the access and the sharing as a significant breach of trust, and pointed to the nature of the material involved, saying police computer systems contain a vast amount of sensitive information and that officers are expected to access records only for policing purposes.

The matter went to a one-day accelerated gross misconduct hearing on Tuesday 16 June 2026, chaired by Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Emily Clarke. The hearing found that Martland’s actions amounted to gross misconduct, and said the officer had breached the standards of professional behaviour covering honesty and integrity and discreditable conduct. The single-day sitting produced both the findings and the sanction: dismissal without notice from the force and placement on the College of Policing’s Barred List.

Deputy Chief Constable Caroline Marsh said: “PC Martland knew that accessing police computer systems without a legitimate purpose, and in this case to look at records of people known to her, and then shared that information, was a significant breach of trust. Her actions were deliberate.”

Public Reaction and Consequences

The immediate consequence was dismissal without notice — summary dismissal from the force — followed by placement on the College of Policing’s Barred List, which prevents Martland from working in policing and other law enforcement bodies again. The Express & Star’s report of the hearing, by senior reporter James Vukmirovic, was published on 19 June 2026 under a headline describing the officer as “dismissed without notice and barred for life”.

Marsh’s full statement set out why the force treated the breach so severely: “Police computer systems contain a vast amount of sensitive information about individuals under investigation, and the public should rightly expect that all police officers treat this information in strict confidence and only access these records for policing purposes.” No comment from Martland herself, and no mitigation advanced on her behalf, appears in the reporting.

Current Status

As of the reporting published on 19 June 2026, Martland is a former police officer: she has been dismissed without notice from Staffordshire Police and placed on the College of Policing’s Barred List, which prevents her from working in policing and other law enforcement bodies again. The case was disciplinary, not criminal, and no criminal charge or conviction arose from it in the reporting. No appeal against the panel’s findings, and no further development in the case, has been reported.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The gross misconduct finding ended Martland’s career as a police officer and, through the barred list, closed off work in policing and other law enforcement bodies more broadly — the Express & Star described the bar as lasting for life. The finding was not framed by the force as an inadvertent slip: Marsh said Martland knew the access and sharing was a significant breach of trust, and that her actions were deliberate. Beyond the dismissal and the bar, the reporting records nothing of the case’s effect on her personal circumstances; what it does record is that the consequences followed from access that had no legitimate policing purpose, directed at records of people known to her, and information then shared outside the force with family and members of the public.