Rushden man avoids jail after securing unauthorised access to medical records and assaulting police officer

Blacha was sentenced at Northampton Magistrates Court today (October 8) to six months for intending to secure ‘unauthorised access to data held in a computer’ during his time employed by Parklands Medical Centre in Rushden and one month for assault by beating of an emergency worker, namely a police officer.

The sentence will be served concurrently, suspended for 12 months ‘due to time elapsed and that there has been no trouble since.’

The court heard he accessed medical records on August 25 2022 ‘to cause maximum embarrassment and discomfort’ to a police officer, with comments the officer believed were ‘too personal and specific’.

The officer believed the defendant knew the answers he was asking to antagonise him, including details of how to get to the officer’s home address.

It was heard that Blacha questioned if he should carry on as a police officer ‘with this level of paranoia.’

Blacha was employed by police as a community support officer (PCSO) in July 2017, however was later dismissed from the role in March 2021 and an employment tribunal took place where the dismissal was withheld on the grounds of misconduct.

District Judge Amar Mehta believed this had created a vendetta ‘generally against Northamptonshire Police’ which he had harboured and the officer ‘unfortunately became a victim of that vendetta’, according to the judge.

Obtaining the unauthorised records was ‘a way of getting back at Northamptonshire Police through the officer’, the court heard.

The victim said: “The whole incident has made me feel on edge.

"Since this incident I have been consistently worried.

"I felt like I have had to take extra precaution in my life, including installing CCTV around my house.

“I have struggled to carry out my role as a police officer.

“The whole incident has had an impact on my mental health.”

The defence, led by Angela Lewis, said the comments made may be because of Blacha’s ‘frank way of talking’ due to his ADHD diagnosis and that ‘expressing views is not a vendetta’. They say the officer may have ‘got the wrong end of the stick.’

In a separate incident, Blacha was arrested for ‘other matters’ and was visited by police officers on 21 September 2022, one of which knew him from his time as a PCSO and thus was ‘treated more favourably by the officer’.

He was uncooperative to arrest and later the arresting officer lamented being ‘lenient’ due to their time as colleagues previously.

In a statement read to the court, the officer said: “I have been more lenient with him, this is due to respect of the person that I used to know.

"I have been left with a sense of betrayal from Craig due to his actions.”

It was heard that the defendant, Blacha, ‘does not believe his actions amounted to assault’.

In his closing remarks, Judge Mehta said: “There seems to be a vendetta, still. It is a sustained campaign.

“It must have been apparent to you, having served the information that you had obtained was highly sensitive.

"You were in a position of trust at the doctor’s surgery and you breached that trust.

“It is deserving of a prison sentence.”

Blacha, who is a co-ordinator for the Wellie Wombles and Rushden and Higham Ferrers Litter Wombles litter picking groups, was also told during the sentencing that he must adhere to an ‘electric curfew’ for three months where he must remain indoors between the hours of 8pm until 8am.

A three-year restraining order was issued against Blacha and the officer who’s medical records he sought.