Former Merseyside Police staff member charged with multiple criminal offences

A former Merseyside Police staff member has been charged with 11 criminal offences following a directed Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation.

The former staff member, Daniel Cardus, 26, is scheduled to appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Friday 16 January to face the following charges:

•    two counts of possession of a Class A drug – relating to two occasions in June 2020 and July 2022 when it is alleged the former staff member was found in possession of cocaine.
•    four counts of fraud by false representation – between May 2019 and April 2021, it’s alleged Cardus dishonestly made false representations to the Department for Work and Pensions and intended to make a gain by obtaining universal credit payments.
•    three counts of unauthorised access to computer material – relating to three occasions between January 2020 and July 2022 when he is alleged to accessed police computer systems to access information associated with his personal vehicle without a policing purpose.
•    one count of misconduct in public office – relating to alleged access of police systems between April 2020 and July 2022 in order to obtain information Cardus was not authorised nor entitled to access, so that it could be passed to people linked to organised crime.
•    one count of perverting the course of justice – relating to alleged closure of tasks on a police computer system between June 2020 and October 2020, with intent to pervert the course of public justice.

Following the investigation, directed by our Anti-Corruption Unit and conducted by Merseyside Police’s Anti-Corruption Unit, a file of evidence was referred to the Crown Prosecution Service in May 2024, which authorised the charges.