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| Steven Gerrard CCTV case: Ex-PC Helen Jones jailed | Steven Gerrard CCTV case: Ex-PC Helen Jones jailed |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A police officer who seized CCTV footage of a street scuffle as a "tool to blackmail" Liverpool footballer Steven Gerrard has been jailed. | A police officer who seized CCTV footage of a street scuffle as a "tool to blackmail" Liverpool footballer Steven Gerrard has been jailed. |
| Helen Jones, 32, obtained footage of the row involving Gerrard by "flashing her warrant card" to the boss of a Formby bank in August 2013. | Helen Jones, 32, obtained footage of the row involving Gerrard by "flashing her warrant card" to the boss of a Formby bank in August 2013. |
| The former PC admitted misconduct in a public office at a previous hearing. | The former PC admitted misconduct in a public office at a previous hearing. |
| At Preston Crown Court Jones, of Colchester Close, Chatham, Kent, was jailed for 22 months. | At Preston Crown Court Jones, of Colchester Close, Chatham, Kent, was jailed for 22 months. |
| The incident involved friends of Gerrard, the then-England captain, becoming involved in a row with other men at a bar near his home in Formby, which spilled out on to the street. | The incident involved friends of Gerrard, the then-England captain, becoming involved in a row with other men at a bar near his home in Formby, which spilled out on to the street. |
| Local businessman Paul Lloyd, 35, claimed Gerrard "threw the first punch" but, at an earlier hearing, prosecutors said the Liverpool midfielder was acting as a peacemaker on the evening of 4 August. | Local businessman Paul Lloyd, 35, claimed Gerrard "threw the first punch" but, at an earlier hearing, prosecutors said the Liverpool midfielder was acting as a peacemaker on the evening of 4 August. |
| The former Merseyside Police officer, who then lived in Formby, claimed she was doing a favour for a friend when she improperly used her police status to obtain the footage. | |
| During a three-day hearing, known as a trial of issue last November, Judge Stuart Baker said he found her account "wholly implausible". | |
| He said the CCTV was secured to use it "possibly as a lever to cause Mr Gerrard to pay money to suppress it or, at the very least, to use it in a way which would potentially cause embarrassment, as has in fact occurred". | |
| During sentencing Judge Baker said: "This was deliberate and calculated misconduct in a public office." |