A former South Yorkshire Police officer has been jailed for more than three years after blackmailing a suspect in one of her own cases and attempting to conceal her involvement.

Marie Thompson, who served as a probationary police constable in Doncaster, was sentenced to three years and four months in prison at Leeds Crown Court on Thursday, 30 October, after an internal investigation by the force’s Professional Standards Department (PSD).

Detective Constable Alexandra Furniss, who led the investigation, said: “Thompson’s crimes are shameful and cast a shadow over the excellent work being delivered for our communities by policing colleagues driven by fairness, integrity and trust.”

The court heard that in 2023, Thompson anonymously emailed a suspect she was investigating and demanded £3,500 to keep any allegations against them quiet.

When the victim reported the blackmail, the case was mistakenly allocated to Thompson herself, who then recorded a false entry in her pocket notebook stating the individual, who cannot be named due to reporting restrictions, did not wish to take any further action in relation to the blackmail.

A few days later, Thompson sent another message from the same anonymous account, apologising and claiming she was “desperate”.

A PSD investigation revealed that the emails had been sent from Thompson’s personal laptop.

It was also revealed that she was heavily in debt due to gambling.

She was arrested in October 2023, and later pleaded guilty to blackmail and perverting the course of justice.

After her guilty plea, Chief Constable Lauren Poultney directed that a Regulation 13 notice be served, declaring Thompson unfit to serve as an officer, and she resigned from the force earlier this month.

Detective Constable Furniss added: “There is no place in our force for police officers who fail to live and work by our values and standards.”

“Our work to root out these individuals continues in our tireless bid to ensure our force builds and maintains the trust and confidence of the public.”