Ex-forensics officer guilty over crime images access

A FORMER police digital forensic specialist has pleaded guilty to unlawfully accessing police computer systems to view photographs of crime scenes.

Darren Collins, 56, and an ex-Staffordshire Police staff member, admitted misconduct in a public office after accessing over 3,000 images between January 2014 and December 2018.

He accepted the offence at a hearing at Birmingham Crown Court.

Collins, who was based at the police headquarters in Stafford, will be sentenced on January 7.

A number of the images downloaded by Collins, from Stafford, were official police photographs of crime scenes and post-mortem examinations.

They had been taken to provide evidence of scenes which may later be used during criminal court proceedings or coroner’s court inquests.

Officers have visited relatives of the people in the pictures to inform them of the breach.

Collins, who had worked for the force for more than 18 years, had claimed he viewed the images to further his knowledge of crime scenes and forensic science to progress his career.

He was arrested in March

2019 after concerns were raised by his colleagues.

An internal investigation was conducted by the force’s Professional Standards Unit and he was suspended immediately.

Collins faced internal disciplinary proceedings and was dismissed without notice for gross misconduct in March this year.

He was placed on the Police Barred List, which acts as a bar on working within policing and certain law enforcement bodies.

Deputy Chief Constable Justin Bibby said: “Every day we are required to handle sensitive data and adhere to the proper use of systems without exception. The public trust us to secure the information we hold about them and this was a clear breach of that trust.

“We expect the highest levels of honesty and integrity from all of our staff and anyone who falls below these standards will be held to account.

“We have identified the people whose images have been viewed and have personally visited and updated the families affected.

“A rigorous and extensive investigation has found no evidence that the images have been shared.

“A comprehensive review of current security and access systems and processes has been carried out to ensure that these are as robust as possible.”