A disgraced police officer jailed for theft is being taken to the appeal court over his ’unduly lenient’ sentence.

The Attorney General’s chambers is appealing against the 32-month sentence handed down to former police constable Kevin Scott Williams, arguing he should have been jailed for 42 months.

It submits that the total sentence imposed, given the gross breach of trust over a significant period of time and the fact that the theft was committed by a serving police officer, ’would create widespread concern and undermine public confidence’.

Williams (pictured right) had been a trusted police officer with an exemplary record with the Manx force. He had served as a police officer for some 25 years and even received a Chief Constable’s commendation.

But in March this year, he was found guilty of stealing a Rolex watch during a search operation.

He admitted to the jury during his trial that he had previously pleaded guilty to stealing £60,000 from the Isle of Man Police Federation, for which he had acted as secretary and then chairman.

Jailing him for a total of two years and eight months, Deemster Farrell told him: ’The public place great trust in our police officers. You have seriously breached that trust and those of fellow officers whose funds you stole.’

The court heard that the defendant ’milked’ the funds of the Police Federation, withdrawing cash and paying cheques into his own personal account between 2011 and 2017 to buy, among other things, electronic items and flights for holidays.

He also stole a Rolex watch, valued at £6,750, from premises being searched as part of a joint police, HMRC and UK National Crime Agency operation codenamed Braid carried out in March 2015.

Williams, 51, of Port-e-Chee Avenue, Douglas, had been the lead police search adviser for the Manx constabulary and was the planning and logistics officer for Operation Braid. In September 2017, a silver Rolex watch was found in a bag in his office at police headquarters. The watch belonged to businessman Paul Bell, whose then home in Manor Park, Onchan, had been searched as part of the operation. Williams resigned from the force in February, having been suspended since September 2017.

Following Williams’ sentencing, the IoM Police Federation said in a statement this his actions had caused ’a great deal of anger’ and ’reputational damage’.

The Attorney General’s chambers submits that the Deemster’s starting points for sentence were too low.

A 20% discount for the theft from Federation was ’unduly lenient’, given the ’very belated plea’, and the 33% discount for the Rolex theft was ’unjustified’, it said - and a new sentence of 42 months should be imposed.

The appeal will be heard on July 8.