Police worker who tipped off drug-dealer in Dundee is jailed

By Gbam Godwin On Sep 10, 2025

Police worker who tipped off drug-dealer in Dundee is jailed.

Gary Moran was told that there were alternatives to incarceration, but none were appropriate for his crime.

A former Dundee police officer has been jailed after using the computer system to inform on a boyhood buddy drug dealer. Gary Moran previously acknowledged to accessing confidential data while working in the control room at the West Bell Street offices.

Moran’s data breaches occurred over three years, according to Dundee Sheriff Court. The information he provided to now-convicted drug dealer Heather Brown was intended to frustrate the goals of justice.

Sheriff Alastair Carmichael stated: “In this charge, you sent information to a friend who was being investigated by the police. “This was a serious breach of trust and was detrimental to the public interest.

“There are alternatives to custody available but none of them is a reasonable alternative to a custodial sentence.”

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Illegal interference

Moran, whose address was listed as care of Dundee’s Professional Standards, was fired after a separate internal investigation. He earlier pleaded guilty to five offences, and prosecutors dropped five others.

Fiscal depute Kate Scarborough described how Moran utilised Police Scotland’s “STORM” technology to extract information from various named files and transmit it on. Ms. Scarborough explained:

“In one charge, that also included a purpose of warning another individual that her drug dealing activities had been reported to the police.” Moran also utilised the system to obtain information about someone who had been flagged as suicidal.

The 41-year-old gave police a “no comment” interview and returned to the dock after the reports were prepared. He had acknowledged to crimes between October 2021 and June 2024.

Helping childhood friend

Defence solicitor David Duncan urged the sheriff to reconsider imposing a jail term, arguing that a “robust” combination of community punishments would sufficiently punish his client.

“The third party looks to be the accused’s long-time acquaintance from childhood.

“His position is that he noticed anything negative about that person on the police system and felt compelled to notify her. “The other examples are less concerning and involve him getting unnecessarily involved in issues he didn’t need to be getting involved in.”

The court heard how social workers feared Moran was failing to recognise the gravity of the acts.

Mr Duncan stated, “The lack of clear reason is, in part, because there is no very tangible benefit for him to have behaved in this manner.

“It’s a course of conduct I can’t really see a purpose to and that’s something he struggles to explain.”

Jailed

Moran was sentenced to six months in prison for attempting to undermine the ends of justice charge after being warned about the other charges.

He mouthed the words “I love you” to a woman in the public gallery before being escorted to the cells.

According to Detective Superintendent Nathan Calderwood of Professional Standards, Gary Moran took advantage of his position as a call handler by gaining access to police systems to see records he had no business need to see. “He further violated values by disclosing sensitive information to third parties.”

“Trust and confidence in police officers and staff is critical, and individuals like Moran have no place in Police Scotland.

“Any officer or staff member who fails to maintain the high standards we expect in police will face sanctions.

“We will always investigate complaints against police officers and staff who do not uphold our values and standards.”