Cop, 23, asked for photos of decomposing body at crime scene 'to show her mum'
A Met police officer has been sacked from the force after she asked a colleague to send her pictures of a decomposing body to show to her mum.
PC Bonnie Murphy, 23, wiped away tears after a disciplinary hearing found her guilty of two counts of gross misconduct for asking to receive images from a possible crime scene as well as cheating on her basic police driving exam.
Legally Qualified Chair Judith Gribble said: “Dismissal is the only possible conclusion.
“Most serious of the offences was the breaches of integrity and honesty.
“PC Murphy was young and is still young. PC Murphy, however, asked for the photographs. She asked for the exam material.
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“She did come forward, but only after the arrest.”
Lewis was jailed for a separate incident after he sent colleagues pictures of two murdered sisters' bodies (Met Police / SWNS)
PC Jamie Lewis was also found guilty of gross misconduct (PA)The junior officer received the image from former PC Jamie Lewis, who sent images he had taken of the body to a member of the public as well.
The disgraced officer — who is currently behind bars for posing for selfie-type photographs next to the bodies of two murdered sisters — would have also been dismissed if he was still a serving officer.
Lewis and his colleague PC Deniz Jaffer were both handed two year and nine-month prison sentences in December 2021 for taking and sending photographs of sisters Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46.
Six months earlier he had sent the image of the decomposed body to then 20-year-old PC Murphy, who failed to come forward to report her behaviour for five months, and only did so the day after Lewis had been arrested.
The officer then lied during a meeting, claiming that Lewis had sent the photos without her asking.
Both PC Murphy and Lewis were said to have "failed miserably" in their responsibilities as police officers and harmed the family involved and public trust in the force.
The hearing also heard how PC Murphy had cheated on her police driving exam when she "chased" Lewis for the questions and answers over a period of day.
She later admitted to using the material she received to cheat, and to also using Google during the exam.
Case manager Stephen Morley called for PC Murphy to be dismissed as a result of the gross misconduct findings.
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Six months after the incident PC Lewis took and sent photos of the bodies of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman (SWNS)He said: "Honesty is the bedrock of policing. The public must be able to trust them. It is a breach of trust for the family and it is a breach of trust in this entire organisation.
"This officer and PC Lewis breached the trust in the police and trust in the wider organisation.
"This is a particularly bad time for policing. Both of these police officers failed miserably in the mission for public confidence.
"For PC Murphy, we respectfully invite you to dismiss her from the police force.
"She behaved dishonourably and behaved without integrity and she brought shame and discredit, not only to herself but the wider police force in a time when the Metropolitan Police is struggling.
"She was well aware of what she was doing and that was wrong. She has no place in the police force."
Lewis was one of officers attending a scene where a man's body was found decomposing.
Flowers at an entrance to Fryent Country Park, where Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry were murdered (PA)While guarding it he took a photograph of the corpse.
Junior officers, including PC Murphy, were later invited to attend for training purposes.
At end of their shift the pair bumped into one another at Forest Gate Police Station carpark, where Lewis informed PC Murphy he had taken photographs of the body.
Later that evening PC Murphy texted Lewis asking for the photographs to show her mother.
During the finding Chair Judith Gribble read texts between Lewis and PC Murphy sent during a five to ten minute exchange the evening after the murder scene.
PC Murphy messaged Lewis to ask: "Have you got the picture of that body?
He responded: "Yeah, do you want it?"
PC Lewis is serving a two year and nine month prison sentence for taking and sending pictures of two murdered sisters (PA)PC Murphy then said: "I just want to show my mum as she used to deal with it all the time" adding "haha" to the end.
Lewis asked if she was a member of the police regulatory body the Directorate of Professional Standards: "Not DPS are you?"
To which Murphy said: "You really think I could be DPS?"
Minutes later Lewis sent the photograph, and PC Murphy said "Thanks."
The chair went on to reject the defence's submission yesterday that PC Murphy never actually intended to show her mum, and only requested the images out of "morbid curiosity".
"We can't accept that it was asked for out of just morbid curiosity because the texts clearly indicated otherwise.
"Whether she showed her mum or not doesn't matter.
"The texts show that at that time the texts were sent it shows that PC Murphy wanted to show her mother who may or may not have been a police officer.
"There was not a policing purpose."
Bibaa and Nicole were stabbed to death by a stranger (PA)The chair later added: "They joked about the DPS, in our view this means that PC Murphy knew what she was doing was wrong."
After relaying the texts Ms Gribble added PC Murphy was not particularly close with Lewis and rejected that he had "groomed" her or that she was singled out.
She later said there was no evidence of a "coercive" or "controlling" dynamic between Lewis and PC Murphy in text-exchange surrounding the driving exam answers.
Instead, the hearing heard PC Murphy "chased" Lewis for the basic driving exam answers and questions until he sent 20 PDFs of material.
Speaking in the officer's defence, Eva Niculiu maintained that PC Murphy had excellent character references that showed her continuing to police at a high level despite the ongoing investigation.
She said: "She is open with her colleagues about these proceedings and her remorse, and that is a purpose of these investigations.
"To ensure that other people do not make the same mistakes. This officer, if she remains an officer, will be able to carry on, she has come a long way."
But the misconduct panel decided this afternoon to dismiss PC Murphy without notice.
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