A detective arrested for using confidential police data to spy on a newly-divorced former Playboy model who was once married to the eccentric property tycoon Richard Lugner – who is 57 years older than her – has been given a conditional jail sentence of 10 months.
The incident took place in the Austrian capital Vienna, with the criminal investigation officer, unnamed due to local privacy laws but who is 48, being arrested for stalking stunning model Catherine ‘Cathy’ Lugner, 31, formerly known as Cathy Schmitz before she married her now ex-husband Richard Lugner, according to Austrian newspaper Heute.
The detective has now been sentenced to 10 months of conditional imprisonment for abuse of office, violation of official secrecy and grossly negligent violations of the freedom of the person, according to local media outlet Vienna.at.
Both the prosecutor and the defence have asked for three days to reflect on the ruling, which is therefore not final.
The detective was accused of having requested confidential data about Cathy Lugner and after repeated “espionage attacks”, which the suspect claims were investigations based on anonymous information, he was taken away in handcuffs from his Vienna office in front of his colleagues.
The detective had previously claimed that he “had an official tip that I followed.”
His lawyer Marcus Januschke claimed the entire procedure was a plot against his client, who he described as a “policeman with body and soul”.
The public prosecutor argued, however, that “the police officer abused his office, deliberately violated data rights like those of Mrs Lugner.”
The detective was also found guilty of failing to immediately submit an expert report to the judiciary in a drug case that had exonerated an arrested suspect. As a result, the the drug case suspect had remained in custody longer than was necessary, but it is unclear for how long.
The detective was also found guilty of having sent his wife screenshots from an investigation file to show her that he was still at work.
The officer has also reportedly been suspended from his work for three years in a separate disciplinary hearing.
