A police officer was imprisoned for stealing money from a deceased person

Craig Carter, a former member of the Metropolitan Police, received a 16-month prison sentence for robbing a deceased man. Filmmaker Claudio Gaetani’s wallet included around £115 in cash, which Carter acknowledged to stealing. Carter had a distinguished career that included receiving a Borough Commander’s award for saving a life.

Gaetani, 45, had a fatal heart attack while riding a bicycle in north London in September of 2022.As a member of the area’s “safer neighborhood team,” Carter was in charge of maintaining the scene. Rather than doing his job, he took advantage of the victim’s money and gave the police a fictitious report for a far lower sum.

Carter tried to hide his crime, according to Wood Green Crown Court, by saying he hadn’t checked Gaetani’s body and had only gone through the wallet when it was given to him. But his allegation was undermined when he was shown counting the stolen money in body-worn camera footage.

Judge Kaly Kaul called Carter’s crime “abhorrent,” pointing out that he had undermined the confidence that the public had in him as a law enforcement official. The court claimed that notwithstanding his prior service, which included serving during terrorist attacks, his acts had undermined the public’s faith in law enforcement and soiled his image.

After his conviction, Carter was fired from the Met Police, capping a 23-year career. The event devastated and infuriated the victim’s relatives, who said it seriously undermined their faith in the police.