A Met police officer who was fired for allegedly taking drugs and offering to supply them at swingers parties has died in prison.
Former Detective Inspector Warren Arter, 54, was reportedly found unresponsive in his cell by prison officers at HMP Wandsworth.
He is understood to have died at the south London prison on Friday despite efforts to revive him.
Arter had been remanded in custody at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, charged with misconduct in public office over claims he had inappropriate contact with a victim of a crime.
The Sun reports that he had worked on a Met team dealing with rape victims and that he was due to appear at Woolwich Crown Court next month.
A tribunal hearing last summer heard how Arter had “attended gatherings where drugs were present and were openly being taken”, and that he had failed to take action or report a man who he knew was providing a woman with drugs in exchange for sex.
He was also accused of buying drugs and offering to provide them to a third party.
He was found guilty of gross misconduct by the Met panel in May 2023 and was dismissed from the force without notice.
At the time Chief Superintendent Trevor Lawry, BCU Commander for the Met’s South East Command at which Arter worked, said: “Police officers are rightly held to a higher standard and DI Arter is not representative of that level of professionalism.
“Being a warranted officer is a privilege, one that DI Arter has abused. Police officers are duty bound to report wrong doing and protect the vulnerable – he has failed to do either.
“It is right that he has been held to account for his actions and will now no longer be a police officer.”
A Prisons Service spokesman told the Sun: “Warren Arter died at HMP Wandsworth on Friday 12th July.
“As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate.”
