Former Police Officer Accused of Taking Selfies at Teen Murder Scene
A former police officer has been accused of lying down and taking selfies while on duty at the scene where a teenager was killed, a court has heard. Ryan Connolly, 41, who was then a serving officer with Merseyside Police, allegedly took photos of himself at the cordon of the location where 16-year-old Daniel Gee-Jamieson was killed in Belle Vale, Liverpool, in 2018.
Prosecution Details Alleged Misconduct
Opening the trial at Manchester Crown Court on Tuesday, prosecutor Peter Wilson told the jury that instead of guarding the scene, Connolly had laid down and taken a selfie. The jury was shown pictures found on Connolly's phone, including one selfie showing him standing in his police uniform and another of him lying on the grass. The court heard that nothing sensitive could be seen in the images, which also included pictures of police tape at the scene.
Connolly, a former constable from Huyton, Merseyside, denies four charges of misconduct in a public office. Mr Wilson stated that Connolly was arrested in February 2020, and when his mobile phones were seized, a number of photographs were recovered from the sent folder of the messaging app WhatsApp.
Additional Photos of Vulnerable Individuals Revealed
The prosecution presented evidence that the images included photos of members of the public being dealt with by Merseyside Police, as well as other police officers on duty. Twenty-four photos found on devices showed people who were detained at police stations, hospitals, or mental health premises. Some photos depicted members of the public lying on hospital beds, receiving treatment, or in handcuffs.
One image showed a missing child after he was found and taken to a police station, and another showed two people who appeared to be asleep in bed. In a statement read to the court, one woman, shown hiding in a cupboard in a photo, said she found it "degrading and upsetting."
Allegations of Abuse of Public Trust
Connolly is also accused of taking pictures containing details of force systems, suspect images, and police incident logs. Five photographs of his colleagues were also found on his phone. Mr Wilson argued that Connolly had wilfully misconducted himself by taking inappropriate photographs where there was no professional need to do so, then retaining and sending them on.
He said Connolly's actions had crossed the threshold and amounted to an abuse of the public's trust in the police. The defendant claimed the images, taken on his personal mobile phone, were for work purposes, but the court heard they had not been uploaded to police systems. The trial is expected to last four to five days.
