A police officer and his wife have been jailed after sharing video footage of a dead body at a murder scene. Cameron Lee Hanson, 33, was a serving officer at Lancashire Constabulary when he visited a home in October 2021 and discovered the body of 45-year-old James O’Hara. Hanson’s body-worn camera recorded the chilling scene at the property in Lancashire.
But minutes later, he used his personal phone to take videos of Mr O’Hara and sent audio messages about the incident to his wife, Kirstie Hanson, 33, a police civilian worker. Manchester Crown Court heard how Kirstie had asked fellow employee Charlotte Riley, 30, if she wanted “to see video from a murder” the next day. Riley replied: “Yeh, of course I do,” and Kirstie Hanson sent her the footage with the message: “Don’t show anyone that, I’ll get in s**t.
” Kirstie, who was working in Darwen Police Station, then approached two other colleagues and showed them the video her husband had sent her. The colleagues reported her to their superiors, prompting an inquiry to be launched. The pair pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office ( Image: MEN Media) Prosecutor Matthew Conway said: “It was with the unrestrained dignity of an individual who had sadly lost his life that this investigation first came to light.
This event prompted the arrests of Kirstie and Cameron Hanson and the seizure of their devices. When those devices were analysed a raft of misconduct was discovered, together with the involvemen.