Police worker jailed for accessing body pictures
Families sickened after civilian employee downloaded horrific images ‘for morbid interests’
FAMILIES of people whose deaths were subject to police investigations said they are “disgusted” and “feel violated” after learning a digital forensic specialist illegally downloaded pictures of their bodies.
Darren Collins, aged 56, was locked up for three years after admitting misconduct in a public office when he accessed over 3,000 images between January 2014 and December 2018 while working for Staffordshire Police.
Images downloaded by Collins, from Pinewood Drive, Stafford, included decomposed males, 178 images relating to a post mortem of one particular murder victim and images of a fatal road traffic collision.
Over 60 digital devices were seized including a USB, desktop computer, laptop and a tablet.
Also found on computers was evidence of Collins accessing a website called ‘best gore’, which the prosecution described as “a particularly gruesome website where images of death were depicted”.
Collins, who had worked for the force for more than 18 years, claimed he viewed the images to further his knowledge of crime scenes and forensic science to progress his career.
He created a “back door pathway” to access the images which he then downloaded and took home as he had a “morbid and inappropriate interest in death”, Mr Simon John Davis, prosecuting, said.
Officers have visited relatives of the people in the pictures to inform them of the breach.
Statements from families of those involved in the case were read out by
Mr Simon John Davis, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court.
One witness described how he was involved in a fire in a flat with his wife and daughters. His wife and daughter had died and his other daughter sustained “awful injuries”.
Mr Davis said: “He said ‘I’ve been told someone accessed images of my wife that were taken during her post mortem. I didn’t want the post mortem to happen. Since I’ve been told I’ve thought about it constantly, not been able to get it out of my mind.
“It’s absolutely shameful for someone to do this and where is the dignity for my wife and myself?
“I still can’t believe that a person would do such a thing.”
In a statement about another witness Mr Davis said: “Staffordshire Police scenes of crime officers had attended and taken images. The passing of the person’s daughter affected the family greatly.
“She’d been informed that police staff gained access and that someone else had seen her. She said ‘I’m sure that person is despicable’.”
Another witness who was the daughter of a victim of a crime said “I have to assume Darren Collins didn’t know what the impact of his actions would be”, the prosecution added.
“The people that dealt with the situation were kind and considerate, to consider that trust had been broken and that pictures had been used for Darren’s personal agenda has been devastating. The situation leaves me feeling disgusted,” they added.
Another said: “To know someone has accessed pictures of my son makes me feel violated. I’ve told other family members what’s happened and their response has been, what such reason must this person have had to do what they have done?
“I would like the person responsible
to explain why he’s done what he’s done.
“Our family was devastated by our son’s death.”
Deputy Chief Constable Emma Barnett apologised for the distress Collins caused to the families.
She said: “Collins pleaded guilty to a serious criminal offence and sentencing reflects that.
“I’m very sorry for the additional distress that Collins’ actions caused
to the families of the victims involved. We expect the highest levels of honesty and integrity from all of our officers and staff and anyone who falls below these standards will be held to account.
“The force is promoting a safe and open culture which makes clear to officers and staff that they are duty bound to challenge and report behaviour that does not align with the Code of Ethics.”