Camden Council could be fined over data protection blunder

Camden Council could be fined by a government watchdog after officers potentially jeopardised the safety of alleged victims of anti-social behaviour.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), a government agency with powers to issue sanctions of up to £500,000, has confirmed it will begin “making enquiries” into the blunder, in which the identities of five witnesses were handed to the man they had given evidence against.

A spokesman said: “We will be making enquiries into the circumstances of an alleged breach of the Data Protection Act before deciding what action needs to be taken.”

The council initially said it was seeking an anti-social behaviour order against a council tenant, but a spokesman has since claimed the case was in fact one of home repossession.

Legal officers forgot to blank out the details of six residents of a housing estate in the south of the borough, where the man also lives, in legal papers that were served to him.

The council reported itself to the ICO after the Ham&High exposed the blunder in March.

The incident sparked fears that witnesses will be deterred from giving evidence in future.