A police officer has been sacked after he took a photograph of a dead woman lying face down and partially clothed on a bed and sent it to a colleague. PC Daniel Wallwork of Avon and Somerset police sent the image from his personal phone with the words “look who’s turned up dead” from the scene of the sudden death at around 7pm on 16 April 2020. He said he was merely notifying his colleague of the death of the woman, who lived in Radstock, Somerset. Wallwork, 40, who has seven years’ experience as a police officer, said he and his colleague hadcome across the woman previously, including just a few weeks before her death when she was found intoxicated in Midsomer Norton. He accepted misconduct, but denied his action amounted to gross misconduct. The image was still on Wallwork’s phone when investigators examined it,though he said he believed he had deleted it. Mark Loker of the Police Federation – the body that represents police officers in England and Wales – told the hearing on Wallwork’s behalf: “There was no merriment to this image. It was to notify his colleague who had attended the address on previous occasions.” Loker said Wallwork had been to the woman’s address previously and “actually felt quite sorry for her”. He said the image was not taken to “make fun or mock” the dead woman. “He is someone who merely got it wrong on the day and made a terrible mistake or an error of judgment,” he said. Wallwork had an exemplary police record, Loker said, and had previously worked as a prison officer after leaving the armed forces, where he served with the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers. Wallwork said in his evidence: “I accept what I did was wrong and I chose the wrong method of communication. “I felt almost immediately that I had invaded privacy.” The photo was saved in his phone with the title “this one”. Wallwork denied giving it such a caption, saying he did not know how to save an image with a title. Mark Ley-Morgan, for Avon and Somerset Police, told him: “I’m going to suggest you didn’t regret it at all. It wasn’t until four days later, when [your colleague] challenged you. “Only then did you realise you were potentially in a bit of trouble.” Making a finding of gross misconduct, Avon and Somerset’s chief constable, Sarah Crewe, said: “I am satisfied there was a conscious and deliberate act on the part of PC Wallwork in taking and sending the photo of the deceased.” She found it was not the case that Wallwork had felt immediate regret, noting that he could have disclosed what he had done to his sergeant or apologised straight away. She concluded that dismissal without notice was the appropriate sanction and said the full reasons for her decision would be published on the force’s website within five days. The woman’s parents attended the hearing, which was held online because of the pandemic.