Busy cracking case... police who found time to pose for a selfie at a murder scene
And it’s not their first silly stunt
WHEN a young man was stabbed to death at a shopping centre, you would expect attending police officers to behave with the sombre professionalism demanded of such a serious situation. But for two Met policemen, the murder scene presented the ideal opportunity to take a light-hearted selfie – and post it on Twitter. The image, sent from an official police account, was only taken down after the Mail brought it to the attention of senior Scotland Yard officers. It will raise fresh concerns that police forces are wasting too much time massaging their image on social media, instead of solving crimes. The inappropriate photo was taken at the Stratford Centre in east London, where on Tuesday evening ten men pursued Beniamin Pieknyi, 20, through the precinct, before killing him. The Romanian, who had only recently come to Britain, had reportedly been tar- geted after coming to the support of a friend in a fight. He died in the friend’s arms. It was the latest in a series of eight murders across the capital, with a shocked shop assistant saying the Stratford Centre had become a ‘no-go zone’ at night. But the seriousness of the criminal investigation was undermined just 36 hours later when two PCs from the nearby Safer Neighbourhoods team visited the scene. The pair’s selfie, which shows them with their heads together pulling faces, was posted under the Forest Green North police Twitter account and captioned: ‘Crime scene at Stratford mall today.’ But users were quick to question its appropriateness. Mike Law wrote: ‘Have you caught the perpetrators yet? Of course not, too busy posing for selfies.’ And Natalie Croft responded: Quite a ‘ few murders in the capital this week. I know!!!... let’s take a selfie by the crime scene.’ The Met Police deleted the post after being contacted by reporters. A spokesman said: ‘We accept that the officers showed a lack of judgment and sensitivity in posting a “selfie” picture tweet from the scene of a serious crime, and we apologise for any offence caused. ‘The officers will be spo- ken to and reminded of how to use social media responsibly to keep the public informed of their work in the community, arrests and catching offenders. The tweet has now been removed.’ Last night no arrests had been made in connection with the mur- der. It is not the first time officers have been criticised for inappropriate use of social media. Last month, Wiltshire Police sparked outrage when traffic officers published a grinning selfie that showed an overturned car in the background. And in October last year Avon and Somerset police were ridiculed for encouraging officers to paint their nails in garish colours to raise awareness of modern-day slavery in salons. On the same day, male officers from South Wales Police posed in women’s heels to highlight the issue of domestic violence. Pictures were also posted of on-duty community officers in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, wearing animal masks and enjoying a ‘teddy bears’ picnic’ at community events.
A university student has been named as the latest victim of a violent crime epidemic hitting London.
russell Jones, 23, was shot and stabbed to death at the weekend after being caught in ‘the wrong place at the wrong time’.
He was ambushed in an ‘ unprovoked’ attack outside a train station in north London.
Mr Jones was with a friend, also 23, when a gang of four hooded men launched their attack near Ponders end station in enfield at 12.40am on saturday. the student is believed to
‘Wrong place at the wrong time’
have been two weeks away from completing his course at the university of Hertfordshire in Hatfield. He is the eighth person in a week to be killed in the capital.
Jordon Welsh, who attended Lea valley High school with Mr Jones, told the evening standard he was ‘a kind, loving guy and very humble in school’, adding: ‘ He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.’
Detective chief inspector Andy Partridge, who is leading the murder investigation, said: ‘this was a totally unprovoked attack on the victims and their group, with the level of violence used being utterly deplorable.’ Police have yet to make any arrests.
DCi Partridge said the murder ‘only took minutes to carry out’ and appealed to members of the public who may have seen the killers to come forward. Mr Jones’s friend was also taken to hospital with stab wounds but is not in a serious condition.
it is the eighth murder to take place in the capital since last Wednesday, prompting a campaign group to warn the violence is ‘going to get worse before it gets better’.
Lyndon Davis, 18, the youngest to have been named, was found dead from a single stab wound in Chadwell Heath, east London on March 14.
Joseph Williams-torres, 20, was killed the same evening as he sat in a stationary car in Walthamstow, east London. Father-of-two tyrone silcott, 42, died from knife wounds on sunday morning after a st Patrick’s Day party in Homerton, east London. it is alleged the car mechanic got into a row over two girls at a party and was attacked.
Hersi Hersi, who lived as a transsexual woman called naomi, was stabbed to death in Hounslow, West London on sunday. On tuesday, romanian Beniamin Pieknyi, 20, was killed after jumping in to save his friend during a fight at the stratford Centre in east London.
the 20-year-old, who arrived in Britain only two months ago, died in his best friend’s arms after being chased and stabbed by a gang in the busy shopping centre.
A 48-year- old man from slough was stabbed in southall, West London, on Monday and another man in his forties was also stabbed in Walthamstow on the same day.
Patrick Green, chief executive of the Ben Kinsella trust – set up in memory of the 16-year-old stabbed to death in London in 2008 – said: ‘i fear we have not seen the last of this sort of violence … we will see this problem get worse before it gets better.’