PC who took selfies at teen's death scene cleared

A former police officer who took selfies at the scene of a teenager's death has been found not guilty of misconduct in a public office.

Ryan Connolly, 41, was cleared of four charges after the judge discharged the jury part way through his trial at Manchester Crown Court.

Judge Nicholas Dean KC ruled the prosecution's evidence could not prove that Connolly had committed misconduct.

But Connolly, from Huyton in Merseyside, will return to the same court on Monday to be sentenced for the possession of extreme pornographic images. He had previously admitted three charges.

The trial had previously heard Connolly took three selfies while guarding the scene where 16-year-old Daniel Gee Jamieson was killed in Liverpool in 2018.

The court was also told more than 50 photos, including pictures of vulnerable people detained at hospitals, as well as images of force systems and Connolly's colleagues, were found in the sent folder of WhatsApp on his personal phone when he was arrested in February 2020.

Peter Wilson, prosecuting, told the court: "The prosecution say he has wilfully misconducted himself by taking inappropriate photographs where, we say, there is no professional need to do so.

"He's then retained them and sent them on."

But the court heard that with the exception of one photograph, sent to a supervising officer, there was no evidence of who Connolly had sent the pictures to.

The jury was told the defendant claimed the images were taken for work purposes, but they had not been uploaded to police systems.

Judge Dean told the court: "My conclusion is the Crown cannot demonstrate the serious misconduct here, that the evidence is incapable of demonstrating serious misconduct, so the jury could not reach a conclusion so that Mr Connolly was guilty of misconduct in a public office."

Consequently, he ordered "not guilty" verdicts to be recorded on the fifth day of Connolly's trial.

The Crown Prosecution Service has until Monday to consider whether to appeal against the judge's decision.

Connolly was formally dismissed in 2021 by Merseyside Police, who described his behaviour as "deplorable".

A misconduct hearing was told other images found on his phone were racist, homophobic and mocked disabled people.

Messages also showed he socialised with a known criminal.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.