Met Police officer jailed after stealing £115 from a dead man who collapsed in the street
Met Police officer Craig Carter was spotted on CCTV counting the cash as he waited for an undertaker to come and collect the man's body.
A Met Police officer has been sentenced to 16 months in jail after stealing money from a dead man on the street.
Craig Carter, 51, pleaded guilty at Wood Green Crown Court to misconduct in public office after stealing money from an Italian filmmaker and actor who died after collapsing.
Claudio Gaetani was cycling during morning rush hour to meet a couple he was staying with in Hornsey, north London, when he had a heart attack in September 2022.
The £115 was allegedly stolen while Gaetani lay dead on a street in Haringey for six hours while officers awaited the arrival of an undertaker. Gaetani had only arrived in the UK the night before for a theatre festival in the Southbank.
When his wife went to collect his belongings from Edmonton police station, she noticed that the money Mr Gaetani had exchanged was missing from his wallet, prompting the Met to launch an investigation.
Anti-corruption detectives spotted an officer counting the money on CCTV during the investigation. The charge stated that he "took for his own use money from a wallet received by him in evidence in relation to a sudden death".
At Wood Green Crown Court in June, Judge Daniel Fugallo addressed the officer and said: "I have to make absolutely clear that an immediate custodial sentence seems the likely outcome in this case."
Today (September 13), he was sentenced to 16 months in prison. Carter was dismissed at the conclusion of a one day Accelerated Misconduct Hearing in August.
The chair found PC Carter breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour in respect of: Discreditable Conduct, Honesty & Integrity and Duties & Responsibilities.
He will now be placed on the College of Policing barred list meaning he cannot serve as a police officer or in a number of other related roles in the future, the Met Police added in a statement.
Detective Superintendent Marco Bardetti said: “It is clear from today’s guilty plea that PC Carter knows what he did was wrong and falls well below what any of us would expect from a police officer. The evidence against him could not be denied.
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“In September 2022, PC Carter was responsible for looking after a man who had sadly died in the street, as well as taking responsibility for his personal possessions.
“A family, struggling to come to terms with the death of a loved one, should not be put in a position where they have to make a complaint against an officer, suspecting that they have taken money.
“The Met is not an organisation that will tolerate such behaviour.”
Crown Prosecution Service spokesman Tetteh Turkson said: “The vast majority of police officers are viewed by members of the public as trustworthy, responsible and upstanding members of our society. Carter fell woefully short of these expectations.
"The fact Carter thought he could freely steal from a victim who had sadly passed away is not only disturbing, but deeply disrespectful to the victim's family. Our thoughts remain with them at this time."
