Lee Harshey-Jones, aged 45, a former detective constable with North Wales Police, has entered guilty pleas to sexual offences and police corruption after taking an illicit image beneath a schoolgirl’s clothing, resetting his phone to conceal evidence, and improperly accessing confidential police logs.
The incident took place in Old Colwyn on 11 June and involved two young schoolgirls. The court heard that Harshey-Jones, of Rhos-on-Sea, used a device to record an image beneath a child’s clothing without consent, an offence commonly known as upskirting.
Following the incident, Harshey-Jones executed a deliberate factory reset of his mobile telephone to erase the digital files and thwart criminal analysis. He then abused his position and security clearance as a serving police detective to log into North Wales Police’s internal incident management computer systems, monitoring internal logs to check what reports and evidence had been lodged against him.
Under UK legislation, all victims of sexual offences are protected by lifelong statutory anonymity.
Upon the allegations coming to light, officers from North Wales Police launched an internal criminal inquiry and placed their colleague under arrest. Harshey-Jones was suspended from duty immediately and has since resigned from the force.
Appearing in court on 30 September, Harshey-Jones formally admitted his guilt, entering pleas to one count of recording an image beneath clothing without consent under the Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019, one count of perverting the course of justice, and one count of improper exercise of police powers and privileges under Section 26 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015.
The presiding judge ordered Harshey-Jones to sign the Sex Offenders Register with immediate effect. He was released on conditional bail and will return to court for sentencing on 19 November.
Image – Anonymous Artist Impression
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