PC who took self ies at murder scene faces jail over extreme porn stash
A PC who took selfies at a murder scene has also admitted possessing extreme pornography, it emerged yesterday.
Ryan Connolly, 37, had his phoned seized during a separate police anti-corruption investigation into him in February last year.
The probe led to the discovery of ‘deplorable’ racist, homophobic and offensive images and extreme pornographic content.
That led to a tribunal hearing over pictures he’d taken at work and criminal charges over the pornography.
The content included ‘an act which threatened a person’s life’ and sex with animals. He pleaded guilty to three charges of possessing the ‘grossly offensive’ pornography at Manchester Crown Court last month. He could be jailed for up to three years when he is sentenced in a fortnight.
But yesterday questions were being asked about why Connolly had not been charged with any crime relating to the murder scene selfies or other offensive images.
His behaviour also only became public knowledge after documents relating to his misconduct hearing were leaked to a newspaper.
This is despite college of policing guidelines stating media outlets should be informed when an officer is charged with a potential crime while on duty. Connolly joined the force in January 2003 but his misconduct started around 2014, Merseyside police said.
Racist photos including images of Muslims and a Ku Klux Klan member were found on his mobile. He also took a picture of a fellow officer’s bottom and sent others that mocked disabled people.
In October 2015 he took a photo, while on duty, of someone who had slashed his wrists, and shared it on WhatsApp. A year later he sent a graphic homophobic image and also, on separate occasions, took photographs of two men detained
‘On an almost industrial scale’
under the Mental Health Act who were in hospital. The most offensive photographs were taken at the scene of the murder cordon in 2018 but did not include images of the teenage victim.
Connolly resigned from the police ahead of last month’s misconduct hearing and was later barred from ever rejoining the ranks.
Vinny Tomlinson, former chairman of Merseyside’s Black Police Association, attended the hearing. He told The Guardian Connolly’s conduct was ‘on an almost industrial scale’ and ‘the worst he could recall’.
The case echoes that of the two Metropolitan police officers who used their mobile phones to take pictures at the scene where sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman lay murdered.
Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis were jailed this month after admitting misconduct in public office. Connolly’s phone was seized during a separate probe in February last year.
He had initially been charged with perverting the course of justice over an alleged false claim he had been assaulted, plus misuse of a police computer. He was also charged, alongside another officer, with misconduct in a public office over allegations they failed to alert colleagues to a potential gun attack.
But those charges were discontinued and allowed to lie on file when he admitted the extreme porn offences. Merseyside police insisted they were still reviewing the material found on Connolly’s phone to see if any more criminal charges could be brought.