A police officer from Funen Police has been sentenced to 30 days of unconditional imprisonment for abuse of office. The verdict was delivered in the Court in Odense on Thursday afternoon.

The officer, who is 39 years old and suspended from duty, immediately appealed the verdict. The prosecution had sought a prison sentence, while the defense argued for a suspended sentence or a fine.

The officer pleaded guilty to 21 of the 29 charges against him. These charges involve him taking pictures of a presentation from the police’s intelligence and analysis unit about the Korsløkkegruppen gang. He also admitted to taking a photo of an internal police document about an attempted murder in Odense.

In court earlier this week, the officer explained that he had an official reason for taking the pictures. He stated that he worked in the police’s control center and took the pictures to be able to review them later. He acknowledged that it was not entirely proper procedure and that he should have used his official mobile phone, but it was broken.

The case began after the officer’s ex-wife alerted the police. The prosecutor stated that she had received several photos of the case files that the officer admitted to taking with his private phone. The officer denied giving his ex-wife access to the pictures, suggesting that she overheard his phone’s passcode and accessed the images without his consent.