Leicestershire police officer denies taking pictures of corpse from body-worn footage

William Heggs is charged with 13 offences while he was a special constable for Leicestershire Police Credit: PA Images

A volunteer police officer denied sharing crime scene pictures and taking photographs of body-worn camera footage showing a corpse.

William Heggs, 23, is accused of accessing footage of William Harty, who was killed by his brother-in-law outside his home in October 2021, and taking pictures of it on his personal mobile phone while he worked as a special constable for Leicestershire Police.

The defendant appeared at Leicester Crown Court on Monday with 13 charges following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which began in November 2021.

He pleaded not guilty to one charge of misconduct in a public office, nine offences of unauthorised computer access and three charges of knowingly or recklessly obtaining or disclosing personal data, all alleged between December 2020 and December 2021.

The court heard that Heggs accessed emails with details about road traffic collisions, took videos and photographs of body-worn camera footage and took photographs of police computer screens showing police intelligence and personal data.

The second charge on his indictment alleges that between October 24 2021 and November 14 2021, Heggs took photographs of video footage showing Mr Harty, who had been killed in a fight.

Mr Harty, 28, was taken from Bedale Drive in Leicester to a hospital on October 25 2021 with head injuries, where he died the following morning.

The victim’s brother-in-law, Martin Casey, admitted manslaughter and was jailed for three years and four months in May 2022.

Judge Timothy Spencer KC said to Heggs, who stood in the dock wearing a dark suit: “You appreciate by now, Mr Heggs, you are in a very, very serious position. These are very serious charges.

“You will stand before me on trial on the 17th March next year. You are free to go now.”

Heggs was granted bail until the trial date on the condition that he continues to live at his current address.

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