A financial investigator who worked for Cumbria Constabulary has been jailed for four months for unlawfully accessing police systems and sharing confidential information following a directed Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation.
The investigation, carried out by Cumbria Constabulary, under the direction and control of the IOPC’s Anti-Corruption Unit, looked at the actions of Barry Cowin, a former civilian investigator. Investigators found evidence he used his position to look up information about people he knew, including financial and criminal records.
Cowin appeared at Lancaster Magistrates’ Court today (15 May) where he was given a four-month jail term after earlier pleading guilty to seven offences.
IOPC Director Amanda Rowe said:
“As a police employee and former officer, Barry Cowin should have been upholding the law but instead he accessed and shared sensitive private information he had no right to.
“His experience meant he knew perfectly well what was expected of him, which makes this abuse of trust even worse.
“Thanks to the professional work of the force, under the direction of our Anti-Corruption Unit, the scale of his offending was uncovered, and he has now been held accountable.”
Cowin joined the force in 1985 as a police officer, before moving to his civilian role in 2015. The majority of the offences investigated took place between August 2022 and June 2024. He retired during the investigation.
The investigation found evidence he accessed police systems at the request of two associates, and shared sensitive information without any policing purpose for doing so.
This included unlawful use of a police financial computer system, looking up the registered keeper of a vehicle involved in a collision with a friend’s partner, and sharing information about people’s criminal records.
On conclusion of the investigation, we referred the case to the Crown Prosecution Service in September 2025. Cowin was subsequently charged with four counts of unauthorised access to computer material and three counts of sharing personal data without consent.
Then select "Add to Home Screen"
