Aldingbourne primary teacher to appear in court after alleged data breach

A teacher is to appear in court on a charge of unauthorised computer access at her school in West Sussex.
Aldingbourne Primary School. Picture via Google StreetviewAldingbourne Primary School. Picture via Google Streetview
Aldingbourne Primary School. Picture via Google Streetview

Donna-Maria Thomas, 43, of North Road, Bosham, has been served with a court summons to appear at Worthing Magistrates' Court on August 20.

It is alleged that she unlawfully accessed the work email accounts of four other teachers at the school.

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Thomas will answer a charge that between December 31, 2018 and 20 January, 2019, at Aldingbourne primary school, Westergate Road, Westergate, she caused a computer to 'perform a function with intent to secure unauthorised access to a program or data held in a computer' or to enable any such access to be so secured, contrary to Section 1 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990, police have said.

Police have emphasised that there is no risk to the safety of school staff, pupils or parents, and there is no evidence that personal data of staff, pupils or parents at the school has been externally compromised.

The prosecution, authorised by the CPS, follows an investigation by officers from the Surrey and Sussex Police Cyber Crime Unit.