PC Bonnie Murphy wanted to show a rotting corpse to her relative
By Victoria Munro
A Waltham Forest policewoman has been sacked after asking a colleague to send her a photo of a rotting corpse so she could show it to her relative.
Bonnie Murphy, who worked for the unit that polices Waltham Forest and Newham, was dismissed on 27th January after a misconduct hearing.
The panel heard former PC Murphy asked Jamie Lewis, then also a Waltham Forest cop, to send her a photo of a man found dead in non-suspicious circumstances so she could show it to a relative in January 2020.
In March that year, then-PC Lewis also helped her cheat on a police driving exam by sending her a previous exam and answers.
Chief Superintendent Simon Crick said: “The conduct of these officers was far below what both the public and I expect. It also further undermines our efforts to rebuild trust and confidence in our communities.
“There was no policing purpose for the image to be shared with PC Murphy, and neither officer considered this was inappropriate behaviour that should have been challenged and reported. This is totally unacceptable.
“My thoughts are with the family of the man. I totally understand how distressing this must be for them.
“I expect officers on my command to conform to the highest standards of behaviour and any officer who falls below these standards can expect to be dealt with robustly.”
Bonnie Murphy was sacked without notice and will now be barred from working for the police in future.
Jamie Lewis was dismissed from the Metropolitan Police in November last year for taking inappropriate photos of two murdered sisters at a crime scene in Wembley.
He and another former colleague, Deniz Jaffer, were jailed for two years and nine months each for misconduct in public office after the photos were discovered.
It was previously revealed the ex-cops were in a Whatsapp group of 41 other Met officers called “the A-team”, in which a racist slur for Pakistanis was also used on more than one occasion.
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