Ex-cop cleared of misconduct after taking selfies at scene of adlescent’s loss of life
Ryan Connolly, 41, is accused of taking six photographs on his personal phone while on duty at the cordon where 16-year-old Daniel Gee-Jamieson was killed in Belle Vale in 2018
Merseyside Police PC Ryan Connolly is accused of misconduct in a public office (Image: CPS)
A former police officer who snapped selfies at the scene of a teenager’s death has been found not guilty of misconduct in a public office, according to a judge’s ruling.
Ryan Connolly, 41, was acquitted of four charges after Recorder of Manchester Judge Nicholas Dean KC dismissed the jury midway through a trial at Manchester Crown Court.
Judge Dean determined that the prosecution’s evidence could not substantiate that Connolly had committed misconduct and it would be unlawful for a jury to deliberate verdicts on the charges.
He informed 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.”
On Friday, he instructed not guilty verdicts to be recorded, marking the fifth day of the trial which commenced on Monday.
Prosecutors have until Monday to decide whether to challenge the ruling.
The jury had been told that Connolly, a constable with Merseyside Police, took selfies, including one where he was lying on the grass, whilst he was assigned to guard a cordon following the murder of 16 year old Daniel Gee-Jamieson in Belle Vale, Liverpool, in 2018.
Over 50 photos, encompassing images of vulnerable individuals detained at hospitals as well as snapshots of force systems and Connolly’s colleagues, were discovered in the sent folder of WhatsApp on his personal phone when he was arrested in February 2020, the court was informed.
Opening the trial on Tuesday, Peter Wilson, prosecuting, said: “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.”
However, the court heard that apart from one photograph, forwarded to a supervising officer, there was no evidence indicating to whom Connolly had transmitted the images.
No messages accompanying the pictures had been recovered from the device.
The jury was informed the defendant maintained the photographs were captured for professional purposes, though the court heard they had not been uploaded to police systems.
During Friday’s hearing, a note from one juror had requested the court clarify why the defendant had captured the photographs, asking: “What was he getting out of it?”
Judge Dean explained to jurors that misconduct in a public office represents one of the few remaining common law offences which proves difficult to define and often constitutes a form of corruption.
He provided the example of police officers occasionally facing prosecution for alerting criminals about police investigations in exchange for payment – though nothing of that nature had been suggested in Connolly’s case.
Nevertheless, Connolly, from Huyton, Merseyside, will return to the same court on Monday for sentencing regarding three counts of possession of extreme pornographic images which he previously admitted.
He was formally dismissed in 2021 by Merseyside Police, who branded his conduct as “deplorable”. A misconduct hearing was told additional images discovered on his phone were racist, homophobic and ridiculed disabled people, and messages revealed he socialised with a known criminal.
