POLICE OFFICER ACCUSED OF POSSESSING CHILD ABUSE MATERIAL AND ACCESSING POLICE SYSTEM ILLEGALLY
A serving Newport police officer has been accused of possessing indecent images and videos of children under 18 on his personal phone.The officer, Patrick Higgins, appeared at Cardiff Magistrates' Court and faced charges including three counts of making indecent images of children and three counts of unauthorized access to a program or data.
Higgins denies all allegations.
The offences allegedly came to light after Gwent Police's Counter Corruption Unit was informed that a response officer based in Newport accessed police system information without valid policing reasons on three separate occasions between June 2023 and August 2024.This led to a referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which launched an investigation.
During this process, Higgins was arrested in August 2024 on suspicion of unauthorized access to computer material, misconduct in public office, and unlawfully obtaining personal data.
His personal phone was seized during his arrest, and it is alleged that indecent images and videos of children under 18 were recovered from the device.
Higgins was further arrested on suspicion of creating and possessing indecent images of children.
It is understood that he was suspended following his initial arrest.Higgins pleaded not guilty to all charges on July 21 at Cardiff Magistrates' Court and was released on conditional bail.
His next court appearance is scheduled for August 18 at Cardiff Crown Court.
