Staffordshire Police officer sacked after sharing fatal crash footage

Andrew Parry went to the scene of a crash between a motorcycle and a truck on April 21, 2017, in which a 56-year-old man from Congleton died on the A523 in Leek.

As Parry assessed the scene alongside colleagues, bodycam footage was recorded.

Once Parry returned to the station he then recorded the footage onto his mobile phone and showed the footage to colleagues, without a policing purpose.

Colleagues reported this behaviour to their supervisors, leading to an internal investigation and then a criminal investigation.

At Nottingham Crown Court on November 1, Parry was found guilty and sentenced to 12 months suspended for two years, 240 hours unpaid work and £1,000 costs and victim surcharge to be paid within six months.

At a special case hearing today in front of the Chief Constable, there was a finding of gross misconduct and he was dismissed with immediate effect.

Chief Constable Gareth Morgan from Staffordshire Police said: "This fatal collision was horrific for both the family who have lost a loved one and the officers that attended.

"For one officer to betray the trust of the victim and his family and to share footage of this incident is shocking and reprehensible. Andrew Parry brought shame on himself and discredit to the wider service.

"There is no place for him in Staffordshire Police. I am very grateful to colleagues who did the right thing and brought this behaviour to the attention of line managers.

“I would like to take this opportunity to again apologise to the family of Mr Oarton who have suffered enough with the loss of their loved one without having to endure the subsequent behaviour of one officer.”

Parry was suspended from duty whilst misconduct proceedings took place.