Jail term for ex-special constable who shared photo of crime victim’s body

A former Leicestershire Police Special Constable was today (Friday 9 May) jailed for computer misuse offences, following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). The offences included using his mobile phone to take photographs of police footage showing the body of a victim at a crime scene.

Ex-special William Heggs, aged 23, appeared at Leicester Crown Court when he was given a 12-month prison term after pleading guilty in March to nine offences of unauthorised computer access, contrary to Section 1 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990; and two offences of unlawfully obtaining/disclosing personal data, contrary to Section 170 of the Data Protection Act 2018.

The offences took place between January and November 2021.

The former police volunteer had also been accused of misconduct in public office but this charge was dropped following his guilty pleas to the other offences.

The IOPC’s investigation began in November 2021 following a conduct referral from the force when they became aware that Heggs was using his own mobile to store police material. One of his colleagues reported him for showing a picture on his mobile of a manslaughter victim, taken from body worn video (BWV) footage, when he acknowledged “I know I shouldn’t have”.

Evidence gathered by IOPC investigators found that Heggs had used his mobile to share confidential information about a traffic collision victim with friends, via social media. 

Other police material stored on his mobile phone included BWV clips of people being restrained, arrested and stop searched; photos of injuries; and of slides showing crime suspects.

IOPC Director Derrick Campbell said: “The court heard that ex-special constable Heggs has neurodiversity issues and he told our investigators he had taken the photos to help him process his feelings about the incidents. 

“However he would have known from his training that his actions breached data protection rules, and in an apparent bid to hide images of a crime scene body he transferred them to a password protected file on his phone as police arrived at his home to interview him. Sharing confidential and sensitive police information in the way that he did was a clear abuse of the power and trust placed in him, and his conviction sends a strong message that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated.”

On completion of our investigation we sent a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service which authorised the charges. We also concluded that the former special, who resigned from the force last October (2024), has a case to answer for gross misconduct. It will be for Leicestershire Police to arrange a hearing now that the criminal proceedings have concluded.