Driver to West Midlands chief constables is jailed over indecent child images

A judge told Peter Hogan, who had served as a constable with the force for 28 years before taking up civilian roles as a driver and scenes of crime officer, that he had 'brought disgrace' on the police after admitting three counts of making obscene images of children between 2009 and 2016.

When police raided the 62-year-old's Birmingham home they discovered a huge haul of 4,000 images and videos, including 243 of the most serious category A level – with one child believed to be aged just six, Birmingham Crown Court heard yesterday.

Recorder Stephen Linehan QC told the former school governor of Warren Hill Road, Kingstanding, his actions 'undermined the public's confidence' in the police service and that men like him allowed 'evil people' to profit from 'destroying' children's lives.

The judge said he had no option but to jail Hogan because some of the videos showed children being raped.

Sentencing him to 12 months behind bars, he said: "The age of the Internet has brought with it many benefits to society. It has also brought with it a wave of criminal activity and one of the areas of criminal activity is the proliferation of sexual crimes against children committed by the most evil of people.

“They can only profit from it because others are willing to view these images for their own gratification. You are one of those persons.

“It is perfectly clear that the children are victims and don't consent to them.

"What men like you are doing is watching the rape of children and gaining pleasure from it.

"The lives of these children are destroyed or damaged beyond repair.

“In this case your offending is aggravated by the fact that you committed this over a seven-year period.

“You deliberately and systematically searched for these images and kept and catalogued them so you could access them again and again.

"You spared no thought or mercy for the children. This conduct must be met by a period of imprisonment."

Hogan was ordered to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years and a sexual harm prevention order was also made for 10 years.

Computer equipment seized from his house will also be destroyed.

He will serve six months in prison and spend the remaining six months on licence.

The Express & Star can reveal Hogan had served as a personal driver to former chief constables Chris Sims and Paul Scott-Lee.

He was still employed as a civilian worker at the force when he was arrested in October last year.

Current Chief Constable Dave Thompson does not have a designated driver, the force said.

Hogan was arrested months after being praised by Baskerville School in Harborne for helping young pupils stay safe online.