Staffordshire Police forensic officer downloaded crime scene photos

Darren Collins admitted misconduct at Birmingham Crown Court

A police forensic specialist downloaded thousands of photos of crime scenes and murder victims to his own computer.

Darren Collins, 56, from Stafford, pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office after unlawfully using police systems to access the images.

He had worked as a member of staff with Staffordshire Police for more than 18 years and the force branded his crime "a clear breach of trust".

Officers visited the families of victims whose photos had been viewed.

Police said Collins was arrested in March 2019 following an internal investigation and was immediately suspended.

Detectives found numerous images of dead bodies, images relating to murder scenes and murder victims on Collins' personal devices.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said more than 60 devices that he used to store the images were found.

Collins told officers he had viewed the images to progress his career by furthering his knowledge of crime scenes.

Police said it had visited families of people in the photographs Collins downloaded

It was found he had accessed more than 3,000 images from police databases between January 2014 and December 2018, but no evidence was found to suggest the images had been shared.

Collins was dismissed from Staffordshire Police for gross misconduct and was added to the Police Barred List, which will prohibit him from working in law enforcement in the future.

The CPS said his crimes "would have no doubt caused further distress" to families.

"Every day we are required to handle sensitive data and adhere to the proper use of systems without exception," Deputy Chief Constable Justin Bibby, from Staffordshire Police, said.

"The public trust us to secure the information we hold about them and this was a clear breach of that trust."

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He said the force was currently reviewing its security and access systems "to ensure these are as robust as possible".

Collins was bailed after appearing at Birmingham Crown Court earlier and will appear again for sentencing on 7 January.