Special constable jailed for accessing video of dying man and taking photos | UK | News

A special constable who invaded the privacy of a dying man by accessing and photographing his body has been sentenced to 12 months in prison, leaving the victim’s widow to lament that he “took his dignity” at his most vulnerable moment.

The former volunteer officer with Leicestershire Police, William Heggs, aged 23, was once considered an “exemplary” member of the force until it emerged that he had snapped photos on his personal phone from body-worn footage of 28 year old William Harty, who lay fatally wounded in Bedale Drive, Leicester, on October 25, 2021.

Heggs, from Copeland Avenue, Leicester, had been present at the scene as a 20 year old and administered CPR to Mr Harty, but despite his efforts, Mr Harty succumbed to head injuries in hospital the following day. Martin Casey, Mr Harty’s brother-in-law, was later found guilty of manslaughter. An internal police probe began when Heggs displayed the images he had captured from the body-worn footage of Mr Harty’s body, which he had saved on his Snapchat account, to a colleague who expressed discomfort at the sight of blood.

During the hearing at Leicester Crown Court, it was revealed that Heggs, who had been suspended from duty before resigning in October of the previous year, admitted to his wrongdoing, saying: “I know I shouldn’t have”, as he presented the disturbing images. His actions were reported by the colleague to a superior, sparking an investigation that brought to light several other offences.

Mandy Casey, Mr Harty’s bereaved wife, witnessed Heggs’ sentencing on Friday as he received a one-year jail term after pleading guilty to 11 charges related to computer misuse and data protection violations, including gaining unauthorised access to data and recklessly handling sensitive information.

A court heard how Heggs “repeatedly and flagrantly” violated policing rules despite his extensive training, as conveyed by prosecutor Cathlyn Orchard. Over a span of six months from July to December 2021, Heggs brazenly shared sensitive information including the graphic injuries sustained by a woman who died in a road traffic incident to a contact on Snapchat, circulated body-worn camera footage of a fellow police officer’s mishap to a colleague which they mocked, and captured illicit images and videos highlighting knife seizures, baton and pepper spray use, and a man being treated for a hand injury.

Furthermore, he snapped a photo revealing the personal details of a man convicted of a sex offence, including his birth date, and illegally took 12 photos of a police computer screen with his personal mobile, displaying various crimes and suspects without authorisation.

Heggs, a part-time volunteer who joined the force in January 2021 while studying for a policing degree at De Montfort University, stored these incriminating photos and videos in a “My eyes only” Snapchat folder. Although there was no evidence presented suggesting these were shared on social media, Heggs did confess to showing one of the photos to his mother.

The grave breach of trust was underscored by a victim impact statement read in court, where Ms Casey expressed her shattered confidence in the police force and her ongoing fear of potentially encountering photos of her deceased husband online. Ms Casey said: “You don’t take someone’s dignity and pride from them on their deathbed.”

She added: “He took my husband’s dignity when he was most vulnerable. When I found out special constable Heggs had done this, I just wanted to ask why.” He has traumatised me. I feel I will never know if he showed them to others.

“Judge Timothy Spencer said Heggs, who has autism and ADHD, was “probably too immature to be working as a police officer” as he jailed him for 12 months.He said: “It is clear you did not lack enthusiasm and your policing was, at times, of an exemplary standard, but you lacked maturity. You had received extensive training, you knew the importance of data protection and knew you should only share materials for a genuine policing purpose.”

You knew the lines were drawn and the lines were very clear. “He said Heggs, who appeared in the dock wearing a dark suit and white shirt with pink tie and looked ahead as he was sentenced, had carried out “repeated and persistent breaches of well-understood boundaries”.Judge Spencer accepted that Heggs’s actions were not out of “wickedness”, but said the defendant’s claims that he accessed the material so he could learn from the experience and become a better officer were “far-fetched.” He said Heggs’s actions had “significantly undermined” public trust and confidence in the police. The judge added: “You have a raft of excellent references and your on-the-ground policing was, at times, absolutely exemplary.”

As he was taken away in handcuffs, the judge told him: “It is a huge shame that things have come to this, because you could have achieved great things with the police force and within society as a whole. You had the potential to make a real difference, but instead, you have destroyed what could have been a brilliant career through your actions.

“Members of Heggs’s family wept in the courtroom as he was led down to the cells.After the sentencing, Malcolm McHaffie, Head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime Division, said: “William Heggs abused the public’s trust in the office he held as a special police constable.

“He violated the dignity of the deceased victims for no apparent reason other than personal fascination and to gain credibility among his peers. He repeatedly misused his authority to access police computers and flagrantly breached data protection law in disclosing personal data to members of the public.

“He was not authorised to take photographs of body-worn footage on his personal mobile phone nor share that footage with third parties. His actions were insensitive and illegal. The CPS will always seek to prosecute this type of offending, and it is only right that William Heggs is punished for his actions.”