A former chief constable said the “obviously unacceptable” behaviour of a Met officer who joked about Sarah Everard’s death while guarding the site where her body was found could damage confidence in police.
Sir Peter Fahy hit out as an independent probe was launched into the probationer’s sharing of a sickening “meme” graphic with colleagues on a WhatsApp group.
He sent the message while manning a cordon in Ashford, Kent last Thursday.
When shocked colleagues reported the rookie to senior officers, he was removed from duties at the site and placed in a restricted role.
Met PC Wayne Couzens, 48, was today due to appear at the Old Bailey after being charged with the murder and kidnap of 33-year-old marketing executive Ms Everard who vanished on her way home from a friend’s flat in Clapham on March 3.
Sir Peter, who led Great Manchester Police, told Good Morning Britain: “It’s obviously unacceptable.
“It also shows policing like any other institution is having to deal with members of staff communicating huge amounts of information on social media.
“This is obviously another dent to potential confidence in policing but as I say it mirrors my experience that police officers actually are very intolerant of misconduct by their colleagues and when they see things that are unacceptable, particularly in the current atmosphere, they are immediately reporting it and swift action is being taken.
“I’m sure, I can’t pre-judge, but if true this officer faces very serious consequences.”
During protests in central London yesterday afternoon and evening, the Met arrested four people and issued two £200 fixed penalty notices.
Demonstrators took to Parliament Square, Trafalgar Square and parts of the West End over the “heavy-handed” policing of vigil for Ms Everard on Clapham Common last Saturday and the Government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
Protesters blocked a number of roads and caused traffic disruption, the force added.
Dominic Raab today said it was difficult to make exceptions when asked if the Government had to take responsibility for the way police handled the vigil after it legislated to ban public gatherings during the coronavirus outbreak.
The Foreign Secretary told Sky News: “The thorny issue is how we get the balance right between peaceful protest, expressing our concern with something as terrible as the Sarah Everard case, whilst also the public protection as we come through this vicious and deadly pandemic.
“That is just an incredibly inherently difficult challenge but the measures we have taken are temporary, necessary to save lives.
“And the concern would be if we made exceptions for one or another, however compelling the case was, that we would start to see more widespread disobedience or non-compliance with the rules and then what would that mean for public health?”
Sir Peter also backed Met Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick who faced calls to resign over policing of the vigil turned to violence.
He added: “Cressida Dick is the first female Commissioner of the Met. She feels very passionately about this issue.
“She’s been put in an impossible situation under huge political pressure from both the Mayor and Home Secretary. I worked very closely with Cressida. She’s an outstanding police leader.”
