Ex Met police officer jailed for stealing cash from Italian filmmaker as he lay dead in the street

13 September 2024, 11:55 | Updated: 13 September 2024, 12:27

Craig Carter, 51, pleaded guilty at Wood Green Crown Court to misconduct in public office
Craig Carter, 51, pleaded guilty at Wood Green Crown Court to misconduct in public office. Picture: Alamy

By Asher McShane

A former Metropolitan Police officer has been jailed after he admitted stealing money from an Italian filmmaker's corpse as he lay dead on a busy street in London.

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PC Craig Carter, of Harlow, Essex, pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office after stealing around £115 from Claudio Gaetani between September 7 and 14 2022.

Carter was jailed today at Wood Green Crown Court for 16 months.

His charge stated he “took for his own use money from a wallet received by him in evidence in relation to a sudden death”.

Mr Gaetani had arrived in London just the day before he suffered a reported heart attack
Mr Gaetani had arrived in London just the day before he suffered a reported heart attack. Picture: Facebook

He stole the cash from Mr Gaetani while he lay dead on a street in Haringey, north London, while officers waited for an undertaker to arrive.

Mr Gaetani, 45, is understood to have suffered a heart attack while cycling to meet a couple he was staying with nearby.

Carter worked for the Met's North Area Command Unit, which covers Enfield and Haringey, and appeared at Wood Green Crown Court on Friday wearing a dark blazer and tie and a white striped shirt.

Judge Kalyani Kaul KC described Carter's career, and noted that he has raised two daughters, and has a "strong" marriage with his wife who he cares for.

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She then told him: "On the 7th of September, two years ago, you threw all of that away - you let down your force, you let down your community".

He admitted misconduct in public office on July 26 this year and the charge stated that "while acting as a public officer namely as a police constable" he "took for his own use money from a wallet received by him in evidence in relation to a sudden death".

Carter was dismissed from the force without notice in August after serving for 23 years.

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