Corrupt police worker Natalie Mottram jailed for EncroChat tip-off

Natalie Mottram – who was in tears when she had her mugshot taken after being caught – illegally accessed sensitive information in a bid to save her friend’s skin.

The 25-year-old, of Chapelford, admitted misconduct in public office, perverting the course of justice and securing unauthorised access to computer material at Liverpool Crown Court in August.

She appeared back before the same court today, Friday, where she was sentenced to three years and nine months immediate imprisonment.

Henry Riding, prosecuting, explained to the court that Mottram was employed by Cheshire Police but was on secondment and working as an intelligence analyst at the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit.

But she was arrested by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers on June 12, 2020, as part of Operation Venetic – the NCA-led UK response to the takedown of the EncroChat encrypted communications platform used by criminals.

Soon after Operation Venetic began, it became clear there had been a leak, with an investigation finding that Mottram, of Vermont Close, not only told Jonathan Kay, 39, about the covert crackdown – she told him that officers had intelligence on him too through unauthorised searches of police computers.

Kay admitted perverting the course of justice at an earlier hearing and was today sentenced to 30 months in prison, again immediate.

On April 24, 2020, a friend of Kay’s messaged another EncroChat user to say he had learned that day about law enforcement infiltrating the platform.

Kay messaged a second contact: “I no [sic] a lady who works for the police. This is not hearsay. Direct to me.

“They can access Encro software. And are using to intercept forearms [sic] only at the moment.

“There [sic] software runs 48 hours behind real time. So have ur burns one day max. And try to avoid giving postcodes over it.”

‘Burns’ refers to the delete-time on messages.

He added: “Her words was are you on Encro, I said no why, I only sell a bit of bud. She said cool just giving you heads up. Because NCA now have access. But she wouldn’t lie.”

By June 12, 2020, NCA investigators suspected Mottram was responsible for the leak.

Jonathan Kay was also jailed (Image: CPS)

On that day, her bosses asked her to analyse an intelligence log referring to Kay, who was the partner of Mottram’s close friend Leah Bennett, 38.

But the log was bogus and Mottram was under surveillance.

Mottram left work that afternoon and drove to Kay and Bennett’s house on Newark Drive in Chapelford.

The three had met a few years before and grown close over a shared love of gym exercise. She had her own key to Kay and Bennett’s house and let herself in.

No evidence was offered on a charge of perverting the course of justice against Bennett, and she was formally found not guilty during today’s hearing.

At 5.15pm Kay – who has convictions for driving offences and being drunk and disorderly – arrived home in his car with Bennett arriving seven minutes later in hers.

The prosecution says this is when Mottram corruptly informed Kay and Bennett about the intelligence log concerning him.

Telecommunications data shows that at 5.26pm, Bennett’s phone contacted a phone belonging to the partner of an associate linked to serious organised crime.

This was the first time these devices had communicated in two years. It is believed the call was made to set up a meeting between Kay and the man because shortly after they met at a supermarket car park.

They walked around talking for 20 minutes before returning to their vehicles and leaving. Mottram, Kay, Bennett and the man were all arrested later that day and £200,000 in cash was recovered from Kay and Bennett’s house.

Using a variety of records such as cell site analysis and phone data to check where the suspects were and when, NCA investigators established that on April 21, Mottram and Kay were together at his house for nearly two hours, and that evening, Kay and the unnamed man spoke on the phone.

On April 24, Mottram was again with Kay and Bennett at their home. Her computer records reveal she was working on Operation Venetic from their address. Kay and the man spoke again on the phone later that day.

Mottram had clearly betrayed information about the secret Operation Venetic investigation.

Mottram started working at Cheshire Police in August 2017 as an apprentice. In May 2018, she was seconded to the Regional Organised Crime Unit as an intelligence researcher.

Soon after, all employees were sent a standard reminder never to search corporate systems for their own purposes. Mottram acknowledged the warning.

Natalie Mottram leaving court on a previous occasion (Image: Warrington Guardian)

By 2020, her role was to conduct threat assessments of OCGs. She was briefed on the details of Operation Venetic and was advised about not widely discussing details of the sensitive operation.

As well as the crimes she has admitted, the evidence against her revealed she bought cannabis from a dealer whose phone number was saved in her mobile phone, spending up to £1,500 a month on the drug, and had told Bennett about a murder file she had seen on her boss’s desk.

She also took selfies with her work computer visible and showing a document classified as ‘official sensitive’ meaning it required certain handling conditions.

Mitigation was offered on Mottram’s behalf from Lloyd Mordan, defending, who spoke of his client’s lack of previous convictions, how she is still a young woman and was younger still at the time.

It was said that she is remorseful and unlikely to reoffend, while it was also noted that she suffers from ADHD.

Defending Kay, Oliver Cook highlighted character references from the dad-of-two’s employer, with the project manager for a roofing contractor described as a ‘perfect example’.

Before sentencing, judge Neil Flewitt said: “For both defendants, these offences are so serious that the only appropriate sentence is immediate custody..”

To Mottram, he commented: “You were under the influence of Kay or felt some obligation to disclose information to him to maintain the friendship you relied on.

“You did this out of a misguided loyalty rather than for financial gain or a more sinister reason.

“This was clearly an offence committed in breach of trust or an abuse of position.

“It is a tragedy that by this offending you have lost your reputation, and now you will lose your liberty.

“You no doubt understood the trust placed on you by your employer. You betrayed that trust to maintain your relationship with Jonathan Kay and Leah Bennett.

“You revealed highly sensitive information and possibly compromised a large number of police operations into criminal offending of the utmost importance.”

Turning to Kay, judge Flewitt said: “You must have been aware that passing on the information assisted serious organised criminals to evade arrest and prosecution.

“It was inevitably shared with other criminals and impacted the administration of justice. It is serious offending that requires an immediate sentence of imprisonment.”