Met officers created sexist group chat with dead people’s photos
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PC Malik took a photo of the dead man, whose body was in a state of decomposition after being dead for "some days or weeks", on his personal phone. He later sent the photo to PC Manning on WhatsApp.
Police officers who took photos of a resident who had died on their phones have been told their behaviour was ‘highly inappropriate’.
A misconduct hearing heard how a WhatsApp was created that contained sexist, homophobic, ableist and transphobic content.
PC Billy Manning and PC Zak Malik had taken a picture of a dead elderly resident in Dalston, east London, in 2021.
PC Malik took a photo of the dead man, whose body was in a state of decomposition after being dead for “some days or weeks”, on his personal phone. He later sent the photo to PC Manning on WhatsApp.
The following year, at a taser training course at Shoreditch police station, PC Manning was discussing “difficult situations” with other officers, the investigation heard. It is there he decided to show them the photo of the elderly resident and said: “I’ve been to a bad one, I will show you the picture.”
PC Manning was later arrested after two officers reported him to their seniors, feeling “uncomfortable”, the hearing was told.
After his arrest, analysis revealed several other pictures “relating to victims, suspects and evidence”.
There was also a WhatsApp group called “Away Days” that contained sexist, homophobic, ableist and transphobic content that was created by PC Manning.
Another officer, PC Frankie Jordan, attended another sudden-death situation with PC Manning, where photos were discovered on both of their personal phones.
PC Jordan told investigators he “did not believe that he had done anything wrong” and that “he and colleagues routinely took photos of evidence on their personal mobile phones and sent them to colleagues via WhatsApp”.
PC Jordan said he and his colleagues had not been allocated work mobile phones and that the police-issued tablets were “sub-standard”.
He denied deliberately retaining images on his phone, saying he “forgot that they were there”.
In 2022, the team’s senior leadership, in a team meeting, decided that personal phones should never be used for policing purposes.
However, the misconduct panel heard evidence of “confused and conflicting guidelines” that were even interpreted differently within the Met’s senior leadership team.
After a public misconduct hearing held between November 2025 and February 2026, PC Manning was issued a two-year final written warning, and PC Jordan received a three-year final written warning.
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