Met Police officers 'shared mocking images of vulnerable suspects on WhatsApp'

Two Metropolitan Police officers are due in court over claims they shotvideos of vulnerable suspects and posted the footage with “mocking” commentary on WhatsApp.

PC Richard Aston, 42, and PC Jose Pedro Cunha, 26, are facing a series of criminal charges over claims they took pictures and footage of detainees and people under their care before leaking them on social media chat groups.

Cunha, from Hackney, faces claims he photographed a mentally ill man wearing a spit hood who was lying in an ambulance, before sharing the image with Aston.

It is said he shared on WhatsApp a recording of a vulnerable suspect inside a police cell, handed over his police log-in password to another person, and he is also accused of photographing custody papers for suspects arrested on suspicion of rape and assault, before allegedly sharing those pictures online.

Cunha also faces a claim he used his phone to record the Body Worn video of him firing his Taser, before allegedly sharing that footage on WhatsApp.

According to the charges, Cunha is accused of sharing the material with individual WhatsApp contacts, groups including one called “Gangland”, and in one instance on an online gaming chat group.

Aston, from Stevenage, faces allegations that he mocked a person under his care as a police officer in a WhatsApp post, and he allegedly took a picture of a vulnerable suspect who had been arrested before sharing the image on a WhatsApp group.

Both men are due to appear at Westminster magistrates court on Thursday morning to face the charges for the first time.

Aston is charged with two counts of misconduct while being the holder of a public office, while Cunha faces seven counts of the same charge.