A COP guarding the site where Sarah Everard's remains were found sent offensive material on social media about her kidnap and murder.
The Met officer is said to have shared the vile material in a graphic with colleagues on a WhatsApp group.
Shocked colleagues reported the rookie cop to senior officers and he has been removed from duties at the site and placed on a restricted role.
A high-level internal inquiry has been launched by the Met and the matter has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
The Met said tonight: "On Friday 12 March, the Met's Directorate of Professional Standards was made aware of an inappropriate graphic that was allegedly shared via social media by a probationary MPS police constable with some colleagues.
"The sharing of the graphic was reported by a number of these officers who were concerned by its content.
"Given the context of the officer’s duties at the time, a voluntary referral has been made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct in relation to this matter.
"The PC had been deployed as a cordon officer supporting the search operation in Kent in relation to the murder of Sarah Everard. The officer has been removed from these duties and placed in a non-public facing role while enquiries continue.
"The graphic does not contain photographic images, no images of Sarah, nor any other material obtained from or related to the investigation into Sarah’s murder.
"Sarah’s family have been made aware of the incident."
Assistant Commissioner Nick Ephgrave said: “The MPS expects its officers to behave professionally at all times and this includes how they use social media.
"I take allegations that any officer or officers have failed to observe these standards very seriously and have referred this matter to the IOPC.”
Police today searched a new area in Sandwich, Kent – around 30 miles from where Sarah's body was found.
Officers cordoned off a Co-op car park and a pathway close to woodland as part of the investigation.
It comes as the CPS consider charges against two Met cops who allegedly shared grotesque selfies on WhatsApp of the bodies of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman.
Bibaa, 46, and Nicole, 27, were stabbed to death by a maniac in Fryent Country Park, Wembley, North West London, in June last year.
They had earlier been with a group of friends at a socially-distanced birthday picnic for Bibaa.
The sisters stayed behind when the others left to listen to music and dance with fairy lights.
Their mother, The Venerable Mina Smallman, the first black archdeacon in the Church of England, said the photos taken by the officers had “dehumanised” her daughters.
She told the BBC: “If ever we needed an example of how toxic it has become, those police officers felt so safe, so untouchable, that they felt they could take photographs of dead black girls and send them on.
“It speaks volumes of the ethos that runs through the Metropolitan police.”
The IOPC is investigating six cops who allegedly received or viewed the images of the sisters but failed to report it.
As a result of the probe, the watchdog is also investigating one officer for taking a photo at the scene of a sudden death elsewhere in North London.
In total, 13 cops from the Met’s North East Command are under investigation from the fall-out of the selfies scandal.
As well as the two cops suspended, five have been placed on restricted duties.
Source: Read Full Article