Two Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers have been sacked after taking videos and photographs of 18 vulnerable people they had been sent to help, the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland has said.

The officers, identified only as Officer A and Officer B, recorded people who had asked police for assistance, reported crimes, were intoxicated or were considered at risk of self-harm. The material was gathered between 2016 and 2021, and some of it was shared on WhatsApp, including with a member of the public.

Police Ombudsman Jacqui Durkin described the behaviour as utterly despicable. She said almost all of the people affected had been in need of help when officers turned their phones on them, rather than offering the protection they were entitled to expect.

What the officers were found to have done

In one video, a woman with learning difficulties was filmed in bed and asked about her sex life. The two officers had been sent to her home in 2021 after a report expressing concern for her safety.

Five videos found on Officer A's phone featured an elderly and apparently vulnerable man, filmed in his home and on a street from a police car. The footage showed the poor state of his living conditions and included the officer making mocking comments about the man's sex life.

Two other videos showed women who had been involved in a neighbour dispute, one of whom was intoxicated. Officer B took photographs of two vulnerable women and passed them to Officer A, along with messages referring to the women in derogatory terms.

Some of the videos and pictures were shared on WhatsApp and contained sexualised, derogatory and demeaning commentary, according to the ombudsman's findings. People were filmed in their own homes, in hospitals and in police vehicles.

How the case came to light

The behaviour emerged during an investigation into Officer A, who was accused of having a relationship with a woman he had met in the course of his duties. His home and workplace were searched and electronic devices were seized for examination.

It was on those devices that investigators found the wider collection of images and videos of vulnerable people. The ombudsman submitted files to the Public Prosecution Service in relation to the material found on Officer A's phones, concerning potential misconduct in public office by Officer A and potential data protection offences by both officers. The prosecution service directed that neither officer should be prosecuted.

The case was instead dealt with through police misconduct proceedings, which ended with both officers being dismissed from the PSNI.

Wider concern about vulnerable people and policing

The dismissals come amid wider scrutiny of how police in Northern Ireland treat vulnerable people. Appearing before a Stormont committee earlier in the week, Ms Durkin said her office had received 49 cases since the start of 2025 involving officers allegedly abusing their position for a sexual purpose, more than in the five years covered by an earlier report on the issue.

She told members of the Executive Office scrutiny committee that the PSNI chief constable had described the abuse of position for sexual purposes as the most serious form of police corruption, and she agreed with that assessment. The committee also heard that 30 PSNI officers were suspended at the time, 26 of them in cases relating to violence against women and girls.

The ombudsman's office said the two dismissals showed that officers who exploited the people they were sent to help would be removed from the service.

Frequently asked questions

Why were the two PSNI officers sacked? They were dismissed after an ombudsman investigation found they had filmed and photographed 18 vulnerable people they had been sent to help, and shared some of the material with sexualised and derogatory commentary.

Were the officers prosecuted? No. The Police Ombudsman submitted files to the Public Prosecution Service, which directed that neither officer should face prosecution. The officers were dismissed through police misconduct proceedings instead.

Who were the people filmed? The 18 people included an elderly man, a woman with learning difficulties and women involved in a neighbour dispute. They had sought police help, reported crimes, were intoxicated or were considered at risk of self-harm.