Police call handler who tipped off her boyfriend about a drugs raid is jailed for 11 months

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 07:10 EDT, 3 September 2026 | Updated: 07:13 EDT, 3 September 2026 A police call handler who tried to tip off her boyfriend about a drugs raid on his friend's house has been jailed for 11 months.Ellie-Mae Doherty, 22, had only been with Derbyshire Police for three months when she began to access information and send it to her boyfriend who had a criminal record.Before long, she had tried to tell her boyfriend about a planned police raid on three houses belonging to his friends.But she was caught out when investigators found a message on her boyfriend's phone to an associate, saying: 'My bird who works at Ripley police got into work and texted me to ring "Stirch" but was five minutes too late.'Doherty, who admitted misconduct in public office and failing to tell her superiors about her connections to criminals, was just 19 when she began a job as a call handler at Derbyshire police headquarters.A sentencing hearing at Leicester Crown Court heard that she had been recommended for the role by her friend Jessica Fitzhugh, also now 22, who had started the same job eight months earlier.Fitzhugh, from Belper, Derbyshire, also had a boyfriend involved in criminality and appeared in the dock alongside her one-time friend.She previously admitted accessing unauthorised material on police systems and taking a picture of the data, but pleaded not guilty to misconduct in public office. She was today sentenced to four months in prison, with Judge Timothy Spencer KC, the recorder of Leicester, ruling that the more serious charge should lie on her file. Ellie-Mae Doherty, 22, had only been with Derbyshire Police for three months when she began to access information and send it to her boyfriend who had a criminal record Jessica Fitzhugh, from Belper, Derbyshire, also had a boyfriend involved in criminality and appeared in the dock alongside her one-time friend Prosecutor Helen Rodger told the court: 'They were both asked if they associated with anyone with criminal convictions, cautions or engaged in criminal activities. Both answered no and signed a declaration.'Both had also gone through counter-corruption training in which they were explicitly informed they could only access information for a policing purpose.The prosecutor said that both the women's boyfriends had criminal convictions and they knew others involved with crime including a young man called Aiden Cope, also known as Stirch.Both women were investigated by anti-corruption detectives and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) after allegations were made.The prosecutor said the first misuse of the police computer occurred in December 2023 when Doherty, from Ripley, Derbyshire, sent a message to her boyfriend about a fight involving his associates in which a window was smashed.Three months later she discovered through the police system that search warrants were being executed at three addresses belonging to her boyfriend's associates.Investigators discovered she had looked at the details three times in 32 minutes, then opened up an online system to check who was currently in custody.The prosecutor told the court: 'A message sent to an associate on Braddock's phone read: "My bird who works at Ripley police got into work and texted me to ring 'Stirch' but was five minutes too late. Not found f*** all I don't think yet. Proper search loft nothing up there".'She added: 'It was her intention to tip off Cope and she accepts that she did communicate to Braddock that Cope was in custody.'