A Met Police officer who downloaded porn on a grieving family’s TV while he waited for an undertaker to collect the body of a teenage boy has been jailed.
Avi Maharaj, 44, was called to Graham and Allison Miller’s house in Earlsfield, south west London, on 11th February last year after their 14-year-old son Harry took his own life.
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While he waited for his body to be taken, he guessed the family’s Virgin Media pin number and managed to make two purchases of pornography totalling £25.96.
The court heard Mr Miller thought his dead son had downloaded the videos before he found out what happened.
He was sentenced to 12 months in prison at Southwark Crown Court after pleading guilty to fraud.
Judge Deborah Taylor, sentencing, said: “On February 11 2018, as a police constable with the Metropolitan Police, you were on duty at the family home of a 14-year-old boy who had tragically brought about his own death.
“While his grieving parents were being consoled elsewhere, you had the responsibility of guarding the house late at night until the arrival of the undertaker to remove the body.
“Instead of performing that duty with respect and professionalism, you took it upon yourself to guess the password to the household Virgin Media account, to act as if you were the account holder, and use it to purchase, download and view four pornography films.
“The family were vulnerable, traumatised by the loss of their son, and trusted you to guard their house.
“Your actions led them to a false understanding of their son’s last hours and greatly exacerbated their grief and suffering.
“It is impossible to overstate the affront of your behaviour that night, in a house where the tragic death of a young boy had occurred, and in the presence of his body.
“All right-thinking people would be appalled by your gross lack of decency and respect in indulging yourself at all in those circumstances, let alone deviously, and at the expense of the bereaved parents.”
The matter was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, but Maharaj initially denied being the one who downloaded the material and claimed he had already left the house.
“The father of the deceased believed his son had been downloading this material, so he was very distressed,’ said Ms Edwin.
“His last impression of his son was that he was downloading this material but then he subsequently discovered it wasn’t.”
Gregor McKinley, prosecuting said: “The only person at the premises was Mr Maharaj.
“Four adult films had been downloaded between 11pm and 11.42 pm.
“During this time period the only other people attending the address were the two assistants from the undertaker’s firm.
“They were at the address from 11.05pm to 11.15pm.
“As part of his duty that evening Mr Maharaj was the continuous completion of the police crime scene it’s notable that he incorrectly logged the arrival of the undertakers as 32 minutes later than it did.
“More importantly he incorrectly recorded when he left the premises.
“The Crown say that was a deliberate attempt to cover up what he was doing at the address namely downloading pornographic material.”
Maharaj pleaded guilty and the case was sent to Crown Court for sentencing.
Speaking when Maharaj was convicted last month, Independent Office for Police Conduct regional director Sal Naseem said: “Pc Maharaj’s behaviour was shocking and even more so given he was guarding the property in the absence of the homeowner.
“Not only were his actions deceitful but he caused considerable distress for the family involved who were dealing with the sudden death of a family member.
“I am sorry that the family involved had to deal with this while also coping with the tragic loss of their child.”
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