Met Police officer stole blank cheques from dead man and paid himself thousands

A police officer who wrote himself cheques from a dead man and stole cash seized from criminals has been jailed.

Before being suspended from the Metropolitan Police, PC Robert Ward also took almost 80 days off work by falsely claiming that his child was critically ill.

In January, the 36-year-old was among officers who found a man dead in his home after being called over concerns for his welfare.

“PC Ward stole two blank cheques from the property, wrote them out for £4,000 made payable to himself, and attempted to cash them in January and February 2017,” a spokesperson for Scotland Yard said, adding that one bounced.

Police had already started investigating Ward over the theft of £8,150 in cash from Edmonton Police Station in May 2017, seeing him arrested in October and suspended from duty.

Scotland Yard’s Directorate of Professional Standards then uncovered more thefts of cash that had been seized from criminals taken into custody from September 2016 onwards, bringing the total amount taken to £9,625.

Further enquiries led to the exposure of Ward’s other crimes and showed claims over his child’s health used to take 76 days of compassionate leave, carer's leave and emergency annual leave to be false.

The disgraced officer admitted multiple counts of theft and fraud by false representation for crimes dating back to 2015 and was jailed for two years at Southwark Crown Court.

A judge also ordered Ward, of Waltham Abbey in north-east London, to pay £4,000 compensation to the estate of Peter Jones and a further £2,000 to the Metropolitan Police.

Commander Catherine Roper, of the force’s Directorate of Professional Standards, said: “The conduct of this officer fell well below the high standard of integrity and professionalism both the public and the Metropolitan Police Service expects. Cases like this, although extremely rare, undermine public trust and confidence in policing.

“The Directorate of Professional Standards carried out a thorough investigation following the initial allegation of theft from police stores, and in doing so uncovered further offences for which he was later charged and brought before the court.

”He will now be subject to misconduct proceedings.” - Independent