Families welcome PPS decision to prosecute two police officers
Our office has been informed that a decision has been taken to prosecute two police officers reported for misconduct in public office; the prosecution relate to numerous incidents including the alleged sharing of imagery taken at the scenes of sudden deaths.
We can confirm that the PONI investigation file submitted to the PPS relates to imagery surrounding the death images of the relative of one of our clients and images concerning another individual (also deceased) whose family we also represent.
Our Pádraig Ó Muirigh commenting on the decision said:
“Our clients welcome the decision by the PPS to prosecute two police officers in relation to this matter.
The families concerned have been very frustrated at the delay in arriving to this point. Whilst they appreciate some investigations are more complex than others, this investigation has been ongoing for a number of years. Similar cases in England such as the prosecution of Metropolitan Police officers Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis, who were jailed for two years after they photographed the bodies of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry, were progressed much more expeditiously.
There will be huge public interest in these cases and I think the families and the wider public will expect these matters to be progressed as speedily as possible through the justice system.’