Lancashire Police officer sacked for sending crime scene images to his girlfriend

Adam Wilson died from a fatal knife wound at a house in Lostock Hall.

Jason Lobo, 46, who attended the scene, has been sacked from the force with immediate effect after a disciplinary hearing at the Best Western Hotel, Leyland, found nine allegations of sharing details and images from crime scenes amounted to gross misconduct.

Adam’s father Ray Wilson, 70, said: “How any human being could take pictures knowing a man was dead inside the house – well, I just can’t go there, I’ll cry.

“My son was 26, he was lying on a settee bleeding to death while he was taking pictures to impress people.

“It took 18 months for someone to come and see me and tell me the extent of what had gone on.

“They showed me a lot of A4 sheets with pictures on of the police cars and the police tape outside the house.

“He was making himself out to be Robocop.

“He said thing like: ‘This is what we have to do as a cop, it’s not very nice’.

“The thing that got me most was the text in which he named my son. They showed me three pages of text messages he had sent to women. I’m just gutted.”

Mr Lobo said: “These breaches involved me primarily chatting to my girlfriend and on two occasions other very close personal friends. These conversations took place on private messaging platforms and were never shared with any third parties.

“During the course of the nine conversations I spoke in general terms about what I was doing at work either after being asked by the other party or as part of a wider conversation.

“At no point during any of these discussions did I mention any person’s name, identify any specific location attended or any information which I considered to be confidential and not already within the public domain at that time.

“In short, I did what most police officers officers do on a daily basis when chatting to their wives, girlfriends, partners or very close personal friends.”

He added that the allegations only came to light when he broke up with his girlfriend.

In 2007 Lancashire Police settled out of court after Mr Lobo brought a claim against the force for racial discrimination.

It came after Lancashire Police spent £500,000 of taxpayers’ money to find that Mr Lobo, who is mixed-race, mistakenly over-claimed £90 expenses.

He was suspended from Lancashire Constabulary for three years on full pay while an investigation into his petrol expenses was carried out. He was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing at court, but the police force continued a year-long internal misconduct inquiry before he was allowed to return to work.

Mr Lobo has said that he is appealing against his sacking, telling the Evening Post that his request for a hearing from an independent Chief Constable was turned down.

A statement on Lancashire Police’s website said: “The Chief Constable, Steve Finnigan, found each of the nine allegations against PC Lobo proven and in breach of the Standards of Professional Behaviour in the areas of Honesty and Integrity; Authority, Respect and Courtesy; Duties & Responsibilities; Confidentiality and Discreditable Conduct.

“The allegations related to PC Lobo sending electronic communications to third parties which contained details and images of police incidents and commentary on those incidents.” A spokesman added: “All interested parties were spoken to.”

Lobo, who is from Blackburn, worked as a response officer in Preston and had also worked in Burnley, Colne and Haslingden. He competed for Great Britain in the 800m and represented England at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur and Great Britain at the 1999 World Championships in Seville.