A FORMER Colchester PCSO has been fined for accessing the information of 148 people “out of personal curiosity” while working for Essex Police.

Arrie Bygrave, 23, of Peppercorn Close, Colchester, admitted breaching the Data Protection Act by checking 1,684 records for his own purposes.

He started making unofficial checks after he was the butt of jokes from fellow officers, who told him they had arrested his parents, a court heard.

Although he did not pass the information on, a judge said it amounted to a serious breach of trust.

He was ordered to pay £500 when he appeared at Ipswich Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

David Broughton, chairman of the bench, told Bygrave: “You accessed huge amounts of data which was not for police purposes, and we consider this to be a serious breach of trust.

“However, we do accept the breach was not for commercial gain.”

Bygrave was told the fine, which could have been as high as £5,000, would have been considerably higher if he had a job.

Colette Griffith, prosecuting, said Bygrave accessed police intelligence systems to check on family members, pals and Facebook friends without permission between August 1, 2010, and September 14, 2011.

He admitted going through 1,684 records containing the data of 148 people, which were not for policing purposes.

During that time, he made 435 official checks as part of police work.

Hannah Eales, mitigating, said the checks were out of personal curiosity, not for financial gain.

She also said at the time he was going through a difficult time in his personal life, as his two-year-old daughter was undergoing liver treatment in hospital.

Hannah Eales, mitigating, said Bygrave, who worked as a PCSO for five years, was subjected to jokes by officers, who persistently told him they had arrested his parents, who both have criminal convictions.

The jibes led to him to accessing the system.

Unemployed Bygrave was fined £400 and £100 costs.

He agreed to pay the fine at £5 a week starting on May 28.