The Police Service of Northern Ireland is investigating a second data breach – this time relating to a stolen laptop.

Documents, including a spreadsheet containing the names of more than 200 serving officers and staff, are believed to have been taken from a private vehicle on 6 July.

A police issue laptop and radio are also thought to have been stolen in theft in Newtownabbey, near Belfast.

Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd, the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s (PSNI) senior information risk owner, said: “We have contacted the officers and staff concerned to make them aware of the incident and an initial notification has been made to the office of the information commissioner regarding the data breach.

“This is an issue we take extremely seriously and as our investigation continues we will keep the Northern Ireland Policing Board and the Information Commissioner’s Office updated.”

It comes as the PSNI declared a critical incident after a “significant” data breach relating to all 10,000 of its officers and staff.

The force earlier apologised after it inadvertently published the information in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request on Tuesday.

The breach included the surname, initials, the rank or grade, the work location and departments of all PSNI staff, but did not involve the officers’ and civilians’ private addresses.

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