An internal Scotland Yard investigation uncovered that Metropolitan Police officers routinely used personal phones to take and share photos of deceased individuals via WhatsApp, citing poor quality of standard-issue equipment. The inquiry led to misconduct proceedings against two officers, who claimed the practice was common despite conflicting guidelines from senior leadership.
Metropolitan Police officers have been found to have shared photographs of deceased individuals via WhatsApp using their personal phones , with one officer claiming it was a widespread practice within the force.
The revelation came to light during an internal Scotland Yard investigation, which uncovered that officers frequently used personal devices to capture evidence, including images of dead bodies, due to the subpar quality of standard-issue police equipment. The inquiry revealed that confidential images were routinely shared through WhatsApp as a workaround to compress files before uploading them to the Met's official system.
PC Billy Manning was discovered to have retained a photo of a deceased elderly man on his personal phone following an investigation into the man's death. He later displayed the image, described as a 'bad one,' to colleagues during a training session, causing them to feel 'uncomfortable.
' The investigation into PC Manning's actions exposed significant uncertainty among officers, including senior leaders, about the appropriateness of using personal phones for police work. On September 27, 2021, PC Manning and PC Zak Malik were called to an assisted living residence in Dalston, east London, where they found a resident who had died days or weeks earlier in an advanced state of decomposition.
PC Malik took photos of the deceased on his personal phone and sent them to PC Manning via WhatsApp to reduce file size for official uploads. The misconduct hearing revealed that PC Manning deleted the photo from his phone's library but failed to remove it from his WhatsApp thread. When PC Malik later noticed the photo was still accessible and warned him, PC Manning responded with laughing emojis.
During a Taser training course at Shoreditch police station, PC Manning showed the photo to other officers, describing the body in detail while holding up his phone. Two officers reported feeling 'very uncomfortable' and subsequently reported him to their superiors. PC Manning was arrested on February 18, 2022, and justified his actions by claiming it was 'common practice' to take and delete such photos, though he admitted forgetting to do so in this instance.
His phone was seized, revealing additional images related to victims, suspects, and evidence. The investigation also uncovered a WhatsApp group called 'Away Days,' where offensive content was shared. Another officer testified that during a separate sudden-death callout with PC Manning, photos were taken on personal phones, though the officer could not recall who took them. No criminal charges were filed, but misconduct proceedings were initiated against PC Manning and PC Frankie Jordan, who had also retained photos of evidence.
PC Jordan insisted he had done nothing wrong, stating that officers routinely used personal phones due to the lack of work-issued devices and the poor quality of standard police tablets. He denied intentionally keeping the images, attributing it to forgetfulness. Senior officers later clarified that using personal phones for policing purposes was against policy, but conflicting guidelines caused confusion even among leadership.
PC Manning received a final written warning for two years, while PC Jordan was given a three-year final warning following the hearing held between November and February this year. The Metropolitan Police has been contacted for further comment
Metropolitan Police Whatsapp Police Misconduct Personal Phones Scotland Yard
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