A corrupt police analyst jeopardised one of the biggest and most successful investigations undertaken by authorities across the globe. Fresh-faced 18-year-old Natalie Mottram was surprisingly seconded from being a new recruit at Cheshire Police to the North West Regional Crime Unit to investigate the most serious criminals.

Her sergeant had reservations about the move, but was overruled by his inspector. She gained promotion to intelligence analyst, despite having dodgy friends, having been thrown out of her family home, and spending £1,500-a-month on drugs, Manchester Evening News reports.

When the Gendarmarie hacked EncroChat servers in northern France in April 2020, Mottram was one of a handful of trusted agents in the UK who knew the network had been breached. Crooks heard rumours that their secret network had been discovered, but it was Mottram who confirmed it.

She revealed the hack to a man suspected of being a major criminal - named in court as Liam France - and gangs swiftly abandoned EncroChat. This meant that, despite the huge success of the operation, the hack lasted just two month.

Network bosses shut it down on June 12, 2020 - the day when Mottram and France, who went by 'Tyrion Lannister' on EncroChat, were arrested. Last Friday, Liverpool Crown Court heard that France urged users Argey, ShaggyDoo, and The BigAxelrod to ditch the network after a police mole, Mottram, told him about the hack.

The police probe found that Mottram searched a force computer system for her personal trainer, Jonathan Kay, and then his associates, which is where she found the link to France. Mottram had been warned against searching police systems for personal purposes.

Mottram, who was kicked out her home, accessed sensitive EncroChat material on her work laptop while living at Kay's on April 24, 2020. The court heard that, two hours later, she called Liam France for one minute and 44 seconds. She also used the laptop at Kay's and called France on other occasions.

Hacked EncroChat messages revealed France told another user he was ditching the platform because "a lady who works for the police" told him the network had been hacked. He later warned two other users about continuing to use it.

Mottram, according to the hacked messages, had asked "are you on encro?". When France allegedly replied he only supplied a "bit of bud", Mottram had then replied to Kay "cool just giving u heads IP (sic)" because "NCA now have access".

Detectives became suspicous of a mole in their team and launched a secret probe, creating a false log about Kay on June 12, linking him to guns and drugs. They asked Mottram to review the log.

She later emailed her boss: "Hiya, score hasn’t been bumped up significantly, Iv (sic) increased Physical to Moderate from Low due to mention of firearms enabled however no intel to suggest there is any threats or intent of use of the firearms. Also victim vulnerability was None now is Life factors due to county lines and drug dealers Risk: 90 ORI: 2."

Mottram was tracked by undercover officers when leaving the office and eventually arrived at Kay's home. The police probe later revealed that Kay arranged a £150,000 cash collection but warned contacts that "it was not safe".

Undercover officers swooped when a courier arrived to collect the cash, the court heard. Kay was then arrested in his home and Mottram was nicked in a car driving away from the house.

Later the same day, EncroChat sent a message to all its users saying the system had been compromised and the platform was shut down for good. The court heard that Liam France was also arrested on June 12 and interviewed but since then he had "made himself scarce".

Jailing Mottram at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, Judge Neil Flewitt KC told her: "It's a tragedy that as a result of these offences you have lost your reputation, your career and you must now lose your liberty. However, I have no doubt you knew and understood the trust placed in you by your employer.

"Nevertheless you betrayed that trust to maintain your friendship with Jonathan Kay... and in doing so you revealed highly sensitive information and potentially compromised a large number of police investigations into crimes of the utmost gravity."

Sentencing Kay and Mottram, Judge Flewitt told the court: "The revelation of the existence of Operation Venetic to organised criminals who proceeded to warn others represents a serious impact on the administration of justice. It allowed those who received warnings to take steps to protect themselves."

Mottram was jailed for three years and nine months having earlier admitted securing unauthorised access to police records, perverting the course of justice and misconduct in a public office. Kay was jailed for two years and six months after he admitted one offence of perverting the course of justice.

After the hearing, John McKeon, head of the NCA’s anti-corruption unit, said: “Operation Venetic is a once-in-a-generation investigation which has made a huge contribution to public protection. More than 1,240 offenders have been convicted, more than 173 firearms recovered and more than nine tonnes of heroin and cocaine seized. But Mottram’s actions had the potential to derail all that."

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