A Met police officer has been sacked after she asked a colleague for photos of a decomposed body via WhatsApp and cheated during a driving exam.

PC Bonnie Murphy was dismissed without notice on Friday (January 27) after gross misconduct was proven against her.

At the same hearing, former Met officer PC Jamie Lewis, also had gross misconduct proven against him.

Lewis had already been sacked from the police force after he was convicted and jailed in December 2021 for sharing photos of Wembley murder victims Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry.

The latest Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation stemmed from this incident.

Lewis’ message history showed that in January 2020 he was asked by PC Murphy to send a photo of a decomposed body in Newham so that she could show a relative.

Lewis subsequently shared the photo of the non-crime sudden death scene via Whatsapp.

The day after Lewis was arrested over the Wembley incident, PC Murphy told her supervisor that Lewis had also sent her WhatsApp messages asking her if she wanted the answers to the police basic driver written exam. 

When she agreed, Lewis sent her previous police driving exam material and the answer sheet to the exam he had taken the previous month. PC Murphy also used Google during the exam. 

The IPOC said that had Lewis still been a serving police officer, he would have been dismissed following the latest investigation.

IPOC regional director Sal Naseem said: “The period after a person’s death is already difficult enough for their loved ones, so to learn that an image has been taken and shared inappropriately by police officers only compounds their grief, undermines their confidence in the Metropolitan Police Service and the profession as a whole.

“We welcome the panel’s decision and hope today’s outcome demonstrates that this behaviour is not treated lightly and can result in serious consequences for the officers involved.

“Though PC Murphy was fairly new to her role, she had undertaken multiple training courses and would have known her request to obtain a death scene photo for personal purposes was in breach of professional standards.

“Lewis failed to challenge PC Murphy’s behaviour and was willing to help her cheat in an exam. Both officers also showed a complete lack of respect to this deceased man and his family. 

“Our thoughts remain with the family at this difficult time.”