Pc charged with 'tip-off' misconduct

A policewoman has been charged after being accused of tipping off a person about a potential raid by officers, it was disclosed today.

Pc Grania Hale, 34, was suspended from her duties with Sussex Police after being charged with misconduct in public office.

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said: "In her role as a serving police officer she is alleged to have alerted a member of the public to the fact that a search warrant may be executed."

Hale, who is attached to the neighbourhood response team at Haywards Heath, West Sussex, was granted conditional bail by Sevenoaks magistrates in Kent on Tuesday.

A Sussex Police spokesman confirmed: "Grania Hale, 34 years, who is a Pc with the neighbourhood response team at Haywards Heath, has been suspended from duties, following the charge."

Her bail conditions forbid her from entering Sussex apart from to attend pre-arranged meetings with her solicitors, court and police.

Hale, who is staying at Strawberry Hill in Newbury, Berkshire, is due to appear at Maidstone Crown Court on August 23.