Two Metropolitan Police officers shared a photo of a decomposed elderly man's body on personal WhatsApp after attending his death scene in Dalston, east London, in 2021. PC Zak Malik took the image on his personal phone and sent it to PC Billy Manning, who later showed it during a taser training session at Shoreditch police station, saying, "I've been to a bad one, I will show you the picture." The incident came to light after two officers reported feeling "uncomfortable" and alerted superiors, leading to Manning's arrest. A forensic review of his phone uncovered additional images of victims, suspects and evidence, as well as a WhatsApp group named "Away Days" containing sexist, homophobic, ableist and transphobic messages.
PC Frankie Jordan was also found to have shared images from another sudden-death case with Manning, admitting to investigators that he and colleagues regularly used personal phones to send evidence due to inadequate police-issued tablets and lack of work phones. Jordan claimed he did not believe he had done anything wrong and had forgotten the images were saved. Despite a 2022 team directive banning personal phone use for policing, the misconduct panel heard of "confused and conflicting guidelines" within Met leadership. A public misconduct hearing from November 2025 to February 2026 resulted in Manning receiving a two-year final written warning and Jordan a three-year final written warning.
PC Jordan claims he saw nothing wrong in sharing a dead person's photo because work phones were not provided, yet the same excuse exposes a system where officers bypass protocols using inadequate resources as justification. The Met's own confused guidelines allowed this breach to occur, placing public trust in the hands of personal discretion. If officers are using personal devices for official evidence, the failure lies not just with individuals but with leadership that permitted ambiguous rules to persist. This case reveals how institutional neglect can normalise misconduct under the guise of routine practice.
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