Police apologise for ‘insensitive’ selfie posted at murder scene

SCOTLAND YARD has been forced to apologise after two policemen uploaded a selfie from a murder scene on to social media.

The two officers posed for a picture in front of an east London shopping centre while guarding a cordon where a 20-year-old had died after being chased and stabbed by a gang.

The photo, which was captioned: “Crime scene at Stratford mall today”, led other social media users to accuse the officers of being “too busy taking a selfie” to hunt for the culprits.

The Met Police later removed the picture from Twitter and said the two officers showed a lack of sensitivity.

The unnamed officers were on duty at the scene where Beniamin Pieknyi, 20, had died in his friend’s arms after being chased and stabbed by a gang on Wednesday night. He had reportedly arrived in the UK from Romania two months ago and had stepped in to help his friend during an altercation.

Other social media users immediately questioned the police photograph. Mike Law wrote: “Have you caught the perpetrator(s) yet? Of course not, too busy posing for a selfie.”

Another identified only as Natalie responded on Twitter: “Quite a few murders in the capital this week. I know!!!... let’s take a selfie by the crime scene.”

Police in Newham released a statement saying they apologised for “any offence caused by the ‘selfie’ picture that was posted from the scene of a serious crime this morning.

“The officers showed a lack of judgment and sensitivity in posting this and they will be spoken to and reminded of how to use social media responsibly.”

Mr Pieknyi’s death was the eighth murder in the capital in a week.

Police were called to Stratford at 9.30pm following reports of a “disturbance” at the shopping centre. Mr Pieknyi was found suffering from stab wounds. Emergency services tried to save him but he was pronounced dead at the scene at 10.30pm.

Ion Robert, a friend of the dead man, told the Evening Standard: “He died in the arms of his best friend. These guys were trying to attack his friend and he intervened – he was trying to save his friend’s life.”

Mr Pieknyi was working in a takeaway and was living with his brother in Milton Keynes. He had only recently celebrated his 20th birthday.

The photograph outside the murder scene at the Stratford Centre, east London, that the unnamed police officers posted on Twitter

Romanian Beniamin Pieknyi, 20, who only arrived in the UK two months ago, was killed while trying to protect a friend