Ex-Hampshire police inspector guilty of strip-search assaults

A former police inspector who sexually assaulted young men in custody during unnecessary strip-searches has been found guilty of sexual offences and misconduct. Gerard Hutchings, 66, abused 18 victims at police stations in Hampshire from 1999 to 2007, police said. He was found guilty by a jury at Bristol Crown Court of five charges of indecent assault, five of causing a person to engage in a sexual activity without consent and one of misconduct in public office. Hutchings, of Wingrove Road, Ashurst, also admitted 17 counts of misconduct in a public office at a previous hearing. He will be sentenced on 24 July. The complainants, who had been arrested for minor offences, were aged between 17 and 31, police said. They attended the stations for a police caution or reprimand, the court heard. During the trial, eight victims described how they were strip-searched with no justification. One man, who had been arrested for shoplifting, said: "He was trying to humiliate me. "I do believe he took great pleasure in pointing out what a piece of scum I was and people like me should not walk the earth, or words to that effect. "I have been strip-searched before and there was no following of the r