Former Met Police officer who used dead people’s bank details jailed – watchdog

A corrupt former Met Police officer who used bank details of deceased people to buy hundreds of pounds’ worth of electronics online and stole a member of the public’s laptop has been jailed.

Former police constable Muhammed Mustafa Darr was also sentenced over accessing police records, including into a fraud investigation into himself, at Southwark Crown Court on Monday.

The 39-year-old had pleaded guilty to three charges of misconduct in public office, and was sentenced to 40 months’ imprisonment, according to the police watchdog.

It follows an investigation led by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) into Darr’s offending between December 2018 and September 2020 when he was working in a response unit in north London.

From June 2019 to September 2020, Darr looked up files about himself but also accessed the police national computer to view the criminal records of a family member and reports of a friend who had been arrested.

On multiple occasions he also passed on confidential information in the police records to friends and people he knew who asked him to, the IOPC added.

In June 2020, Darr stole a laptop and bag from a member of the public’s unlocked vehicle after he arrested a man for a driving offence.

In a separate incident, Darr admitted to using the bank details of two deceased people whose addresses he attended following reports of their deaths.

IOPC director Steve Noonan said: “Muhammed Darr was a corrupt officer and his offending, which spanned several years, was appalling.

“He repeatedly showed a willingness to break the law by accessing police records without a legitimate purpose, which is strictly forbidden, and passing on confidential information about investigations.

“On top of this his dishonesty offending, where he stole from a member of the public and deceased victims, were truly shocking.

“There’s no place in policing for corrupt officers and it’s this behaviour which significantly tarnishes the public’s trust in police. The seriousness of his offending has been reflected in his prison sentence.”

The IOPC began their probe following a conduct referral from the Met Police.