Former police inspector jailed for 10 years over sex attacks on young men in custody

A former police inspector has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexual offences against young men in custody.

Gerard Hutchings, 67, abused 18 young men, aged in their late teens to early 30s, in custody at police stations in Hampshire between 1999 and 2007.

He made the men remove their clothes before subjecting them to sexual assaults, Bristol Crown Court heard.

Hutchings had denied five charges of indecent assault, five of causing a person to engage in a sexual activity without consent, and one of misconduct in a public office. A jury found him guilty on all counts.

The former police inspector previously admitted to 17 counts of misconduct in public office.

The 18 victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were subjected to unjustified and illegal strip searches by Hutchings while being handed a caution or reprimand for minor offences like shoplifting or possessing cannabis, the court heard.

He also sexually assaulted some of them during these procedures.

Hutchings, from Southampton, was previously jailed for 16 months in 2008 after admitting to 11 counts of misconduct in a public office for similar offending.

He was sacked by Hampshire Police in 2007 following the complaints.

In 2020, the force launched a new investigation after receiving a report from a man who was similarly searched by Hutchings in 2005. Officers identified a further 17 victims from 373 people who were named in Hutchings' police notebook.

Judge William Hart told Hutchings that his abuse of the victims was "made more grave by the seniority of your rank".

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He said: "All the offences involve abusing your power and position of authority as a police inspector to conduct, in private, completely unwarranted strip searches of male detainees and, in the case of those who gave evidence in the trial, to indecently assault them and cause them to engage in sexual activity against their will and without their consent.

"You enjoyed both the humiliation and obtained some perverted sexual gratification from what you did. This was a course of abusive conduct, stretching over many years and involving many victims."

Hutchings 'tainted my innocence'

On Friday, men who had been abused by Hutchings read victim personal statements in court.

One said: "You, a senior officer, acted in a calculating and predatory way which tainted my innocence. I was groomed to silence as a minor by an adult - you - for your own sexual perversion."

Another told the court that hearing police sirens left him "wracked by surging anxiety, then deep, seething disdain" for years.

A third said he had been a "happy go lucky 21-year-old" until he was abused by Hutchings, leaving him feeling "disgusting, belittled and ashamed".

The wife of one man, now a father-of-two, wept as she read a statement written by her husband - calling the abuse "heartbreaking".

Anthony Johns, of the Crown Prosecution Service, praised the victims for coming forward, calling their evidence "vital in bringing Hutchings to justice".

Speaking for Hampshire Police after the hearing, Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Southey also commended the victims for their courage, saying: "It has been incredibly difficult for them to revisit a traumatic event in their past that no-one should have had to experience.

"Hutchings exploited the trust placed in him to commit appalling offences against these young men. His actions have had a profound and lasting impact on them. I am deeply sorry for the suffering they have endured."

He added that "people like Hutchings have no place in policing" and that officers would do "all we can to root out those who think they can abuse the trust of the people we serve".

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