Former Met Police officer Craig Carter jailed for 16 months after stealing from a dead man

Craig Carter, 51, of Harlow, Essex, stole around £115 from Claudio Gaetani, an Italian filmmaker and actor, after he and another colleague were called to the scene where he collapsed. Mr Gaetani, who was visiting from Italy, had told friends that he had exchanged around €200 into pound sterling, which he was carrying in his wallet the next morning when he collapsed during a bike ride.

Carter and another officer attended the scene, with bodycams showing that the now-former cop was given Mr Gaetani’s wallet and passport as evidence. The camera then caught footage of Carter counting out around £115 from his wallet along with some loose change, but he would then go on to only log around £6 and €6 in official police reports.

He is said to have recommended for the footage to be deleted, although this is common practice in police protocol. However, the bodycam footage was eventually recovered after a friend of Mr Gaetani complained that money was missing from his wallet.

When questioned about the missing money during a police interview on November 14, Carter had not search the victim’s body and reiterated that his wallet only contained the amount stated in the police records he filed. He said during the interview: “I deny the allegation and I’m appalled by the suggestion that I would steal money from anyone, let alone a dead man.”

However, he admitted an allegation of misconduct in public office in July for a charge which stated that “while acting as a public officer namely as a police constable” he “took for his own use money from a wallet received by him in evidence in relation to a sudden death”. he was dismissed from the Met Police without notice after 23 years on the force.

During his sentencing, Judge Kalyani Kaul KC described the crime as “abhorrent”, saying: “On the 7th of September, two years ago, you threw all of that away – you let down your force, you let down your community.”

Judge Kaul added: “You (and your colleague) were the first to arrive to the scene and you were responsible for his (Mr Gaetani’s) belongings. Mr Gaetani was in the most vulnerable position any human being could be in – deceased and alone.

“Police officers, as we all know, have powers and privileges much greater than any one person in our community, and that makes the possible commission of offences and the possible abuse of that role very easy. Your crime, as I said in this case, was abhorrent. Mr Gaetani was in a very vulnerable position. You have let down your entire community.”