'Don't show anyone!' Twisted police couple jailed for sick act at murder scene

Cameron Lee Hanson and Kirstie Hanson were jailed at Manchester Crown Court on Thursday after sharing sick footage from crime scenes.

Hanson, a serving police officer at Lancashire Constabulary, found the body of 45-year-old James O'Hara at a home in October 2021. The 33-year-old constable recorded the moment of discovery on his body camera, as per normal practice. However, minutes later he also used his personal phone to film Mr O'Hara's corpse. He sent the video to his wife, a police civilian worker.

In the days after the footage was captured, Kirstie Hanson, 33, showed her husband's video clip to several colleagues at work. She asked fellow civilian worker Charlotte Riley, 30, if she wanted "to see video from a murder". She sent the clip, adding: "Don’t show anyone that, I’ll get in s**t." Kirstie, who was working in Darwen Police Station, showed two more colleagues the video, one of whom was shocked and reported her to their superiors, prompting an inquiry to be launched.

On Thursday, after admitting misconduct in a public office, Cameron was jailed for 32 months while Kirstie will spend 18 months behind bars. Riley, who Kirstie first showed the footage to, received a 12-month sentence suspended for two years after also pleading guilty at earlier hearings to misconduct in a public office.

During the months-long police inquiry, several other disturbing incidents were uncovered. In February 2021, months before the October incident, Cameron took a photograph of another deceased person, whose body was covered by a coat, and sent it to his wife. Kirstie replied: "Babyyy that's creepy. I hope that's not your coat."

She even forwarded the image to her mother and both of them discussed potential causes of death, the court heard.

The police also found that the couple had unauthorised access to police computer systems, disclosed private and sensitive information, and "mocked vulnerable members of the public". The various offences took place between January 2019 and November 2021.

Another twisted incident, in January 2021, saw Cameron send his wife a phone clip of him using PAVA spray, similar to pepper spray, on an individual with mental health difficulties. He callously told his wife: "Two arrests, both fights. Pavad a mental health patient lol."

Kirstie Hanson, who replied with a laughing emoji, said: "Thought you weren't allowed to pava them."

Cameron Hanson responded: "Tis questionable but justified in this case ha ha."

The mother of Mr O'Hara, whose deceased body Cameron filmed and shared, issued an emotional statement at court. Last April, Michael Hannan, 32, was jailed at Preston Crown Court for five years and four months for the manslaughter of Mr O'Hara who he punched in an unprovoked stranger attack.

Janice O'Hara said: "I can't comprehend why anyone, let alone a serving police officer, could carry out such an atrocity. They have stripped our son of the dignity he deserved in death, it dehumanised him, all for some morbid curiosity or some form of warped bragging rights."

Judge Nicholas Dean KC, told the defendants: "We have heard the moving statement of Mrs O'Hara. Hearing her I hope you felt the deep sense of shame that you ought to feel. This is a shocking and disturbing case. Shocking and disturbing for what it might tell us about the culture that appears to have existed for a period of time at least within Lancashire Police."

David James, representing Cameron Hanson, said his client wanted to apologise to his victims and their families. He added: "He was emotionally ill-suited to such a difficult and stressful job."

Patrick Cassidy, for Kirstie Hanson, said she was "deeply ashamed" and had since undertaken a university course on law and ethics as a "manifestation of her reflective state of mind in order to learn"

Patrick Williamson, defending Riley, said she too was ashamed and added: "Her family are frankly horrified and annoyed at her behaviour."

Det Ch Insp Eugene Swift, of the force's anti-corruption unit, said: "The behaviour of these three individuals has no place in Lancashire Constabulary and damages public confidence and trust in the police at both a local and national level. My thoughts are with the victims of this offending and I hope today's outcome will give them some sense of justice.