A police officer guarding the area where Sarah Everard's body was found reportedly sent colleagues a disturbing joke about her kidnap and murder.
The cop – who has not been identified – sent a meme of six images of a uniformed police officer abducting a woman to seven colleagues in a work WhatsApp group.
The six images, which are believed to be a parody of the Highway Code, consisted of a guide of the six stages from abduction to murder, the Daily Mail reports.
In one of the images, the officer appears to be directing traffic but holds a hand up to say "stop single girl". He then gives a number of signals for various disturbing actions, which end up in the murder and disposal of the woman's body.
Everard's family have been informed about the memes, which did not contain photographic images of Everard or anything specifically related to the investigation into her murder, the Met has confirmed.
They were sent last Thursday, March 11, the day after the remains of Everard, 33, were found in woodland near Ashford, Kent.
Following reports of the sickening images, there were calls for the officer responsible to be sacked.
The officer's colleagues reported the message to their superiors, who sent the matter on to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). The unnamed individual has now been placed on restricted duties.
A source told The Sun: "There was one officer who found it worthy of making a joke about. It was disgraceful."
Ex-Met detective chief inspector Mick Neville said: "Any decent officer knows the limits. Joking about a horrific murder and kidnap, whilst the family is grieving, is completely unacceptable.
"The last thing the Met needs is anything else to undermine the public’s trust in the force. This will do just that."
Everard disappeared on March 3 after walking home to Brixton, south London, from her friend's home in Clapham – a journey that should have taken 50 minutes. A week later, her body was discovered in an area of woodland not far from Ashford, Kent.
Last week, Couzens, a firearms officer from Scotland Yard's elite Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, was charged with kidnapping and murdering Everard.
The 48-year-old is in police custody and will go on trial for Everard's murder later this year.
