Officer accused of sharing picture of man’s body 'should be jailed', says Daniel Whitworth's family
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A police officer who allegedly shared a picture of a man’s body after he was murdered by a serial killer should be jailed, according to the victim’s family.
Daniel Whitworth, was the third young man to be killed by Stephen Port in Barking, east London in 2014.
His body was discovered in a churchyard. He was one of four men to die after Port gave them the ‘date-rape’ drug GHB.
A picture of Daniel’s body was shared on social media by police officers in a group called Hunters and Gatherers, according to reports.
An anonymous whistleblower said the 21-year-old chef’s body was wrapped in a sheet.
Daniel’s father Adam and stepmother Mandy of Greenhithe, Kent told ITV News they were appalled and furious.
"You can hardly believe that a person would do that. I don't know what to think about it, it's hard to believe," Daniel’s father said.
"It is despicable, disgusting behaviour," he added.
Stepmother Mandy added: "I felt sick. I still feel sick. I don't want to believe it. You think just as it can't get any worse, who could do that? "It should not be too difficult to find out who was at the scene that day, who took the pictures and they are not above their own law. "They should be put inside for it.
"Commissioner Mark Rowley and his colleagues, they can look at their records and identify the people concerned.
"He can identify the individuals concerned here and it is a criminal case - we want these people in prison."
They called on Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to launch an urgent criminal investigation into the allegations .
The claims have disturbing echoes of the case of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman.
Pictures of their bodies were shared by police officers on a WhatsApp group.
The families of Port’s victims accused the Metropolitan Police of homophobia after it emerged detectives ignored clues pointing to the existence of a serial killer.
An inquest into the deaths of the four men identified police failings and said the deaths of three of them might have been prevented.
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