Former policeman pleads guilty to intimidating a woman

The former police officer entered guilty pleas in Auckland District Court. Photo / File

A former policeman has admitted intimidating a woman and unlawfully accessing the police database.

Jason Karl Harris, 43, appeared in Auckland District Court where he entered guilty pleas to those charges and one of producing cannabis.

Just weeks after police laid five additional charges of possessing objectionable material on his laptop, those allegations were withdrawn at today's hearing.

A harassment charge was also amended to intimidating - a less serious offence with a maximum penalty of three months' jail.

According to court documents, Harris is also alleged to have posted explicit adverts about a woman in February on two websites used by people to find sexual partners, causing her to fear for her safety.

In June, Harris - who lists his occupation as 'attendant' - was charged with illegally accessing the woman's details on the police database.

The charge carries a penalty of up to two years in prison.

Harris was a police officer stationed at Pukekohe from early 2007, and it is alleged he accessed the police database a month before his resignation in April last year.

Acting Assistant Commissioner Richard Chambers said there were strict controls on access to information held in the National Intelligence Application (NIA), which holds information on a person's personal details and if they have criminal history.

"There is regular monitoring of NIA access including an audit carried out each month on approximately 75 randomly selected employees using the NIA database for that month," he said.

"These employees are required to justify their NIA access for that month."

Harris will be sentenced next month.