A family in Northern Ireland has condemned as “sick” the allegation that a police officer tried to share photographs of their relative who had killed himself.
Deirdre Lennon said she had not trusted the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) since learning about the alleged attempt to share online pictures of her brother Jim Lennon. “Not a chance would I ring the cops now. No chance. I have no faith in them. How are you supposed to?” she told the BBC on Wednesday.
The Lennons are the second family to speak publicly about an ombudsman’s investigation into officers who allegedly shared photographs of dead bodies. In at least one case officers are accused of manipulating a body and adding a speech bubble to the image.
One officer has been suspended on full pay and several arrests have been made. Prosecutors are deciding whether to bring charges.
Jim Lennon took his own life on 26 July 2012, aged 46. In 2017 the police ombudsman told the family an officer was under investigation for allegedly taking images of the body from the police database and trying to pass them to a colleague.
Deirdre Lennon said the disclosure compounded her grief. “Jim’s death for us was a complete shock – we couldn’t come to terms with the fact that he had taken his own life. And then for this to happen. We just couldn’t believe it. It is just sick. Why would anyone do this to another human?”
She and a brother shielded the disclosure from some of the family, she said. “It was just too awful. My only sister never knew, she died last year and never knew. It was so bad for us that I was trying to keep her safe. It has been a hard five years. We couldn’t tell anyone. But I can’t do it no more. I just want justice for my brother.”
The allegations became public earlier this month when the father of a man who had killed himself in Belfast in 2017 spoke anonymously to the BBC. He said he understood that two officers who had inspected the body were accused of exposing the dead man’s genitals and sharing the images online.
The Public Prosecution Service said in a statement that in March it had received a file from the ombudsman about potential offences, including misconduct in a public office, harassment, offences contrary to the Data Protection Act and the Computer Misuse Act, and theft. “Decisions will issue in due course after a thorough consideration of all available evidence,” it said.
A PSNI spokesman said: “An officer was dismissed on Monday 25 July 2022 from the service, by the chief constable, as a result of a separate misconduct incident, which the Police Service of Northern Ireland had been investigating, The police ombudsman’s criminal investigation remains ongoing at this time.”
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.
