Police officer found not guilty of using restricted database to track former partner
An experienced Queensland police officer has been found not guilty of using a restricted computer without consent, after it was alleged he used a police database to track the whereabouts of his former partner.
Detective Inspector Glenn Horan had pleaded not guilty to one charge of using a restricted computer without consent (domestic violence) in the Brisbane Magistrates Court this week.
Magistrate Lewis Shillito told the court on Wednesday the prosecution had not proven "beyond reasonable doubt" that Inspector Horan was guilty of the charge.
The prosecution had alleged Inspector Horan searched an address on the police database QPrime in October 2021 to find whose property his then-partner, Senior Constable Celeste Batticciotto, had visited.
The court heard the address was that of one of Queensland's highest-ranking police officers, now Deputy Commissioner Cameron Harsley, who Senior Constable Batticciotto said was a friend.
Prosecutors claimed Inspector Horan suspected Senior Constable Batticciotto had been in a relationship with someone else.
The defence denied the allegations and said Inspector Horan had searched the address as he spotted something suspicious while he was exercising.
Magistrate Shillito said the prosecution was required to prove three elements; that Inspector Horan used a restricted computer; it was without consent and that he intended to gain or gained benefit from doing so.
He said they failed to prove this beyond reasonable doubt.
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