Detective sergeant Jason Grafham showed images of Sally Anne Bowman, who had been raped and murdered, to colleagues for his own 'personal gratification and bragging'16:58, 17 Jul 2026Updated 16:59, 17 Jul 2026A Met Police officer showed colleagues photos of the mutilated body of a teenager, who had been raped and murdered, for his own “personal gratification and bragging”, a tribunal found.Detective sergeant Jason Grafham kept images of Sally Anne Bowman, who was found dead in Croydon in 2005, for “no policing reason,” the tribunal heard.The photos showed the then 18-year-old naked in a pool of blood after she had been attacked by serial rapist and murderer Mark Dixie. Grafham was today found guilty of gross misconduct after a hearing ruled he had “compounded” the “emotional harm and grief” suffered by Sally's family by showing the crime scene images to colleagues.The tribunal – sitting at Palestra House in south London – found there was "no policing purpose" to keep or show the images.Grafham, who retired from the force one day before the start of the tribunal, was permanently barred from serving in the police. He was also found guilty of gross misconduct for a series of sexually inappropriate and discriminatory and/or derogatory remarks.Chairman of the tribunal, Commander Paul Trevers, said that Grafham – who did not attend any part of the hearing – would have been dismissed had he not already retired. The former cop will not have his pension docked as he has not been convicted of a criminal offence.Commander Trevers said: "The panel finds that former DS Jason Grafham retained papers and photographs (of the Sally Anne Bowman case) when there was no policing reason to do so.“He showed photographs to other officers when there was no policing purpose to do so. (He) admitted possessing and showing the photographs but maintained that was for policing purposes. The panel does not accept this explanation.“Displaying (the photos) without any policing purpose was profoundly inappropriate and failed to treat the victim with dignity.“Even after 20 years, the emotional harm, grief and disruption to (the Bowman family’s) lives remains significant and the officer’s actions compounded this.”This was “wholly inconsistent with locally recognised practice” and had “significant potential to undermine confidence in policing standards”, Commander Trevers added.Photocopies of images from the scene of the rape and murder were discovered after a search of Grafham’s desk in December 2024, the hearing was earlier told. One witness, known as Miss B, said she thought Grafham had kept the photographs for “entertainment and bragging purposes”.She said she had found it “highly inappropriate” and “disturbing” when she saw him show the crime scene images to a colleague.Another witness, known to the court as Miss C, said that Mr Grafham’s frequent referral to his work on the Sally Anne Bowman case had become a “running joke” in the office.In his defence, Grafham’s representative Mark Scrutton had claimed he had kept the photographs for “policing purposes”. He said Grafham was “incredibly proud” of his role as an exhibits officer in the case which led to the conviction of Dixie, who was jailed for life with a minimum term of 34 years in 2008.Separately, Grafham was also accused of making five sexually inappropriate remarks to colleagues, and three discriminatory and/or derogatory remarks between March and December 2024.The tribunal heard that on the balance of probabilities, all sexually inappropriate remarks and all but one discriminatory and/or derogatory comments were proven after four colleagues gave evidence.Speaking after the tribunal had provided its findings, detective chief superintendent Angela Craggs, who leads central specialist crime command at the Met, said: “The actions of former DS Grafham were despicable, incomprehensible and deeply disrespectful.“I am profoundly sorry to the family and loved ones of Sally Anne Bowman for the additional pain and distress caused to them by what he did.“Grafham’s comments to colleagues were also incredibly offensive and inappropriate. There is no place in the organisation for those who think such behaviour and language is acceptable.Article continues below“We are all appalled by his conduct and grateful to colleagues who had the confidence to come forward and report their concerns, which we were able to swiftly act on.”