A former Metropolitan Police detective sergeant who kept graphic crime scene photographs of murdered model Sally Anne Bowman has been barred from policing for life. Jason Grafham, who was based in the Central Specialist Crime Command, served as an exhibits officer during the investigation into the 2005 murder of 18-year-old Sally Anne in Croydon. A disciplinary panel found him guilty of gross misconduct after he retained material from the case, including graphic images of Sally Anne's body, which he showed to a colleague and boasted about to others. The panel determined there was no policing purpose for his actions; instead, he kept the material for his own entertainment and bragging rights.
Background of the case
Sally Anne Bowman had studied at the prestigious BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology before becoming a model. She was touted as the next supermodel, with her looks compared to fellow Croydon-native Kate Moss. However, her life was brutally cut short by opportunist sex beast Mark Dixie, who attacked her outside her home after she had been dropped off by her ex-boyfriend. Dixie repeatedly stabbed and raped Sally Anne before dumping her body in a skip. The police investigation stalled for months until June 2006, when pub chef Dixie was arrested during a minor bar scuffle. A routine DNA swab uniquely linked him to the murder scene. Dixie claimed he had come across her already dead body and, while high on drugs, decided to have sex with the corpse. A jury saw through his lies, and Dixie was found guilty at the Old Bailey and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 34 years. He later received additional life sentences for separate, historical sexual assaults.
Grafham's misconduct
The disciplinary hearing ruled that Grafham compounded the emotional harm and grief suffered by Sally Anne's family by showing photographs from the crime scene where her naked body was found in a pool of blood. An investigation into Grafham was launched after multiple officers reported his boasts of keeping photos of Sally Anne's crime scene. Extremely graphic photocopies were subsequently seized from a locked cabinet in his desk drawer. The tribunal was told by one witness that it had become a running joke how frequently Grafham had mentioned the high-profile case to colleagues. Miss C told the hearing she thought Grafham was a reconstituted dinosaur who believed he was a legend in his own lifetime. Another witness, named only as Miss B, who did not see the photocopies herself, said she thought Grafham was showing them for entertainment and bragging rights.
Additional inappropriate behavior
Grafham's tribunal also heard that he made a string of sexually inappropriate remarks to three colleagues between March and December 2024, with seven of eight allegations found proved. The hearing found he had breached standards of professional behaviour in relation to discreditable conduct, authority, respect and courtesy, and equality and diversity at the level of gross misconduct. The panel stated that he would have been dismissed without notice were he still serving. Grafham has also been added to the College of Policing barred list, preventing him from rejoining the police or working for a number of other policing-related bodies.
Official response
Detective Chief Superintendent Angela Craggs, who leads Central Specialist Crime Command, said: "The actions of former DS Grafham were despicable, incomprehensible and deeply disrespectful. I am profoundly sorry to the family and loved ones of Sally Anne Bowman for the additional pain and distress caused to them by what he did."
