Hampshire Constabulary win Digital Team of the Year at prestigious International Digital Investigation Awards

The team of officers that brought a man to justice for the killing of 13-year-old Lucy McHugh have been recognised for their work at the International Digital Investigation Awards and won the award for Team of the Year.

The awards (held on March 10) celebrated excellence, innovation and progress in digital investigation, and brought together organisations and individuals from around the world who are passionate and inspiring in their fields.

Every year the Awards are attended by some of the leading international and UK law enforcement organisations. Hampshire Constabulary is really proud the work of its officers has been recognised on his world stage of innovation.

The investigation into Lucy McHugh’s tragic murder in 2018 in Southampton involved dozens of officers from right across the force playing their part.

Digital investigation was a significant element of the overall effort to bring Lucy’s killer to justice.

Our excellent team of digital investigators, examiners and analysts used ground breaking cloud data analysis to identify the presence and subsequent recovery of key forensic evidence, which was absolutely key in securing the evidence we needed to prove the case.  

The Senior Investigating Officer leading the team, Detective Chief Inspector Dave Storey, said: “This was a display of endeavour, curiosity and utter determination by the officers to get justice in this case. Their innovative digital strategy of using cloud data lead us to finding key DNA evidence was absolutely crucial to the investigation.” 

Assistant Chief Constable Ben Snuggs said: “The team’s innovation, skill and experience helped prove the case and I am really pleased that their hard work and team effort has been awarded in this category.

“The importance of this work will be obvious to each one of us given the proliferation of digital devices we all use. The success by this team helps demonstrate our organisational wide commitment to tackling crimes which have a digital footprint and we are well placed to investigate, keep people safe and bring those responsible to justice.”

“Well done to all those involved for winning in the category of Digital Team of the Year at this prestigious international digital awards event.”