A BUNGLING police officer left highly confidential information behind after a search of a property in Alexandria – and the details were later shared in a video posted on Snapchat.

The bag – containing a police baton, airwave terminal and a police issue notebook, as well as a quantity of notepads and confidential paperwork – was left by mistake at an address in McCulloch Lane in August.

But a court was told the officer didn’t realise his blunder until the following day.

John Scott, 43, and 22-year-old Rebecca Hanvey pleaded guilty to a charge of stealing the bag when they appeared at Dumbarton Sheriff Court last week.

Meghan Glancey, prosecuting, told the court police with a warrant had gone to the address – Scott’s home – shortly after 5pm on August 27 to carry out a search, which ended at around 7pm.

Ms Glancey said: “Whilst searching, one officer inadvertently left behind a laptop bag and its contents.

“The notebook contained sensitive and confidential information.

“The accused Hanvey later posted a video clip showing the confidential material, and sent it on Snapchat. Neither accused contacted police.”

The court heard that the following day, Scott contacted his mother, asking her to phone the police to tell them about the bag, but she refused and told him to contact police himself.

Ms Glancey continued: “On August 28, the officer commenced duty and realised he couldn’t find his bag.

“He went to the address and both accused were within. John Scott handed over the bag, but the notebook and pad were missing.”

Ms Glancey said that between the end of the search, and the police officer returning to the address the next day, the notebook and pad were sold on to another person.

Scott, she said, showed police the Snapchat video, which the pair agreed to delete.

Scott was arrested on August 29, and the following day, Hanvey, of Pappert in Bonhill, went to Clydebank police office to provide a witness statement.

Her mobile phone was seized, but she was not arrested until September 4 – three days after the items were recovered.

Ms Glancey said that when Scott was formally charged, he told police: “I didn’t steal it – it was left.”

Scott’s solicitor, Melissa Rutherford, described the theft as “opportunistic”.

She said her client – who appeared in the dock from custody, having been listed in court papers as an inmate at Low Moss prison – had “a terrible record”, but had become a father in 2014, and had largely stayed out of trouble since the previous year.

Deferring sentence until January for reports, Sheriff William Gallacher told the pair: “This is apparently described as “opportunistic at the outset”, but nevertheless, it was an offence where you knew exactly what you were doing – and the potential consequences to the community could have been very significant indeed.”

Scott was remanded in custody until the sentencing hearing, while Hanvey was released on bail.