Ex-special constable who shared photo of crime victim’s body jailed

Ex-special William Heggs, aged 23, appeared at Leicester Crown Court on Friday (May 9) 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 charges followed an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) after a conduct referral from the force when it became aware that Heggs was using his own mobile to store police material.

The IOPC said one of his colleagues had 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”. The officer reported Heggs to his line manager and police seized Heggs’ mobile phone and downloaded the contents

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. Heggs disclosed graphic details – most of which were not in the public domain – about the injuries to the woman who was killed in the road traffic collision he had attended to a friend on Snapchat.

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

Heggs remained suspended from the force from November 2021 until his resignation in October 2024.

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 its investigation the IOPC 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 added. “It will be for Leicestershire Police to arrange a hearing now that the criminal proceedings have concluded.”

Malcolm McHaffie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) 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 what could be considered 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.”