Man arrested after urban explorers find ‘graphic’ documents at derelict police station

Confidential documents ddetailed deaths of four people in Devon almost 20 years ago

A man in his 50s has been arrested after “graphic” documents detailing the deaths of four people were uncovered by urban explorers at an abandoned police station.

The confidential documents, which allegedly included explicit photographs, related to the deaths in Devon almost 20 years ago, DevonLive reports.

The information was unearthed at the former Heavitree Road Police Station, in Exeter. Footage uploaded to YouTube on 6 August appeared to show a group of men entering the building via an unlocked window at Exeter’s former magistrates’ court next door.

Heavitree Road Police Station pictured in 2009, three years before its closure was announced (Derek Harper / Heavitree Road Police Station, Exeter / CC BY-SA 2.0)

The hour-long video was uploaded to a channel with 54.5K subscribers and showed the group entering the site. A second video posted on a site called Odysee, with a graphic content warning, showed blurred versions of photos found inside.

Inside the boarded-up building, the group found a folder labelled “coroner’s officers file” which contained details of the inquest into the death of a 17-year-old girl who died alongside three others in 2004.

The folder included information on the circumstances of her death, including where and when her body was found. It also contained witness statements and detailed photographs of the scene.

A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police said: “We are aware of videos posted to social media platforms which show a group of people entering the former Exeter Magistrates’ Court and subsequently accessing a room in the former Heavitree Road Police Station.”

"An investigation is ongoing and on Thursday, August 10, officers arrested a man aged in his 50s from the Wiltshire area on suspicion of burglary, abstracting electricity, improper use of public electronic communications and unlawful obtaining and disclosure of personal data. He has been released on police bail while enquiries continue”, the spokesperson added.

"Due to the content of the videos, Devon and Cornwall Police has made a referral to the Information Commissioner’s Office and will fully support its enquiries. The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner has taken action to re-secure the former Heavitree Road Police Station site and strengthen security measures."

A spokesperson for the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, which owns and manages the police estate, said: “Action has been taken to resecure the former Heavitree Road Police Station site and strengthen security measures after members of the public trespassed on the premises.

“We would strongly urge people not to trespass on the police estate, doing so risks their safety and can take valuable resource from front-line emergency services.”

Devon and Cornwall Police announced the closure of the station over a decade ago in 2012, with BBC News reporting at the time that it was shut because its cells were “more than 50 years old” and “nearing the end of their useful life”.

A replacement station was to be built at Middlemoor, on the outskirts of Exeter, close to the force’s headquarters, it added.

Plans for the abandoned building to be replaced by student and co-living flats were rejected for a second time in February 2023. The first submission was filed in 2022, with the second attempt proposing a reduction in room numbers and heights.