Merseyside Police officer sacked over murder scene selfies

PC Ryan Connolly was sacked after an investigation by Merseyside Police's anti-corruption unit

A police officer who took selfies at a murder scene where a teenager was stabbed has been sacked.

PC Ryan Connolly, who worked for Merseyside Police, also shared racist and homophobic pictures and took photos of mentally ill people being sectioned.

Merseyside Police said the 37-year-old was sacked for gross misconduct after an anti-corruption investigation.

Officers had found "severely offensive" photos taken between 2015 and 2018, the force said.

The investigation found he had taken "photographs of vulnerable people whilst on duty" and his phone contained "appalling homophobic, racist and offensive images".

The misconduct hearing was told he had taken a photo of the cordon at a murder scene where the teenager was stabbed in 2018 and shared a photo of a Ku Klux Klan member.

PC Ryan Connolly's actions were described as "deplorable"

Deputy Chief Constable Ian Critchley said: "I am appalled by Connolly's actions, they are beyond comprehension and are not in keeping with the high standards and values that we expect here at Merseyside Police.

"Our officers carry out exceptionally brave selfless acts every single day, protecting the most vulnerable people in our communities, yet here we see the despicable acts of a very selfish individual who has no place in our police service.

"The behaviour of this officer is deplorable and serves to undermine the public's confidence and trust in the police.

"We are quite clear, if any officer is found to be behaving in a way that does not meet our high standards we will take swift and robust action."

Earlier this month, two Met Police officers were jailed for taking photos of two murdered sisters and sharing the images on WhatsApp groups.

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