Met cop rummaged through pockets of two dead men to steal their bank cards

A "cold-hearted" police officer has been jailed after he took bank cards out of the pockets of two dead men and spent hundreds of pounds during a shopping spree.

Muhammed Mustafa Darr, of Met Police, rummaged through the pockets after he was called to the scenes of two unexplained deaths. Southwark Crown Court heard that he snatched the first card from Howard Smith in December 2018. He later stole one from Alasdair Burnside six months later, as well as a laptop and a Louis Vuitton bag from a suspect's vehicle.

The victims' families said they were "horrified" to discover what Darr had done and said he "violated our brother's body". The court also found that the depraved cop used Mr Smith's card to purchase a Fitbit watch from John Lewis, before splurging £637 on Apple products from the same store.

He used Mr Burnside's account to buy an iPad and other products and attempted to make two more purchases but the card was declined. Darr, who has since resigned, admitted three counts of misconduct in public office. Mr Burnside's sisters attended the hearing at Southwark crown court and gave victim impact statements. Julia Burnside said: "Muhammed Mustafa Darr violated our brother's body, stole his property, his identity and his good name.

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"We trusted the Metropolitan Police to respect our brother's body and his belongings. It is chilling to reveal how vulnerable Alasdair was, with Muhammed Mustafa Darr in his flat. We have completely lost confidence in the Metropolitan Police. Muhammed Mustafa Darr and the Metropolitan Police must be held responsible. This must never happen again."

Kirsty Burnside said in her statement: "Following my brother's untimely death, I remain feeling completely horrified and disgusted at the actions of Muhammed Mustafa Darr. I am aware that Mr Darr was left alone in my brother's address. Mr Darr had no respect for my brother's dignity. Mr Darr queried why my brother's eyes looked 'weird and funny.' At this point I thought maybe this might be the first dead body he had seen. He kept describing the eyes as funny."

Ms Burnside asked him not to do so but he continued and went on to describe her brother's decomposing legs. "He callously continued, I found this particularly distressing and cold-hearted," Ms Burnside said. "I witnessed him opening the evidence bag that had my brother's front door keys which he did hand over." The family wanted to have Mr Burnside's phone back which contained photos both of him but Darr claimed the phone was lost and said: "These things happen." It has never been recovered.

Ms Burnside added: "Mr Darr had no interest, he was unprofessional and could not even look me in the eye. We never got his phone back and never heard from Mr Darr again." Passing sentence Judge Sally-Ann Hales said: "Two of Mr Burnside's sisters have given statements on the impact your offending had on them and their families. Their statements are relevant to the court's statement of harm caused by your conduct.

"Kirsty describes your behaviour towards her as disrespectful, unprofessional, callous and rude. When she later found out you had used her brother's bank details she felt horrified, violated and disgusted. The fact you met them knowing you had their bank details and used them a week later demonstrated to her you had no remorse. Ms Burnside's sister Julia said you violated her brother's body and his good name. She described it as a desecration. Count three concerns your theft of a laptop from a car that had been stopped by police.

"The car had been involved in a road traffic collision, you had been called to the scene but were stood down. At 2:30am you drove a police car to the scene, searched the car and stole a Louis Vuitton bag and laptop. You did admit to taking the bag, you said the last few months had been a whirlwind for you and your wife because you had just had a baby. You offered to return the bag and apologised for not doing so before. You abused your position within six months of joining the police. You used the bank details of two deceased men to financially enrich yourself and did so with a degree of sophistication. You passed on information to others.

"Whilst I acknowledged your lack of previous convictions, in a case like this, it has little weight. Your offending was a gross breach of trust, it is offending which betrays the trust of colleagues across the police service. You shamelessly exploited the deaths of two people and you stole from a third while he was in police custody. These offences are so serious that only a custodial sentence is appropriate."

Barr, of Walthamstow, admitted three counts of misconduct in public office. He was jailed for a total of three years and four months. He must also pay £690 to Mr Burnside'e estate and £1,630 prosecution costs, within 28 days. Addressing Mr Burnside's two sisters the judge added: "It only remains for me to express my condolences for the family of Mr Smith who are not present but particularly to the family who are here of Mr Burnside, I hope the conclusion of these proceedings at least gives some relief."