A police officer, PC Timothy Robson, has been sacked for taking photograph of a deceased person and showing same to his colleagues.

The UK Metropolitan Police said Mr Robson was fired after he attended a misconduct hearing where a panel proved a number of allegations against him.

“On 10 September 2025, PC Robson attended to a sudden death and took a photograph on his personal mobile phone. He had no legitimate policing purpose to do so,” the police said. “PC Robson went on to show or offered to show the image to several of his colleagues.”

The police said Mr Robson’s conduct breached the standards of professional behaviour in relation to discreditable conduct, authority, respect and courtesy, and duties and responsibilities. 

According to the police, Mr Robson was been dismissed without notice and will also be added to the College of Policing barred list, preventing him re-joining the police or working for a number of other policing-related bodies.

Superintendent Jai Singh, from the North East Area Command, apologised to the family of the desceased, adding that Mr Robson’s acted abhorrently and without any thought for the dignity of the individual and their loved ones. 

Mr Singh said, “I am grateful to the colleagues who came forward to report this behaviour, enabling us to take decisive action against an officer whose conduct fell significantly short of the high standards we expect of all our officers and staff.”