Detective shared 20 year old pictures of victim’s body for ‘bragging rights’

A detective involved in the investigation into the murder of Sally Anne Bowman shared crime scene photographs of her partially naked body for entertainment’, a tribunal heard.

Det Sgt Jason ‘Grafs’ Grafham, based in the Met’s Central Specialist Crime Major Inquiries unit, also made a series of derogatory remarks about his female colleagues, it is claimed.

Sally Anne was 18 when she was stabbed repeatedly in 2005 by pub chef Mark Dixie who then abused her as she lay dead or dying at her home in Croydon, south London.

Dixie, now 56, was jailed for life with a minimum of 34 years at the Old Bailey in 2008 for murdering Sally Anne in 2008.

The evil pub chef was later handed two further life sentences in 2017 after he admitted to a pair of historic sex assaults.

Representing the Met, Louise McCullough, said while all the allegations are serious ‘the posting of pictures of Sally Anne Bowman’s deceased body to colleagues for a non-policing purpose is especially egregious.’

A witness, known only as ‘Ms B’, said of DS Grafham: ‘He asked my colleague if he had ever seen the crime scene pictures of the murder, and proceeded to show him those photographs.

‘I have no idea why he had those in his possession, because they are from a murder that was over 20 years ago and they were in his desk drawer.’

She said cold case files are typically locked away in boxes requiring a PIN code for access and that they had not been working on any cases relating to Sally Anne’s murder at the time.

Asked by Police Federation representative Mark Scrutton whether she thought Grafham kept the case files for ‘entertainment and bragging rights’, she said: ‘That’s what it felt like.’

She said Grafham, an experienced detective who had spent 30 years in the Met, liked to ‘swing the lamp’ about the high-profile cases he had worked on.

‘Sometimes it was quite interesting to listen to, however on this occasion it was highly inappropriate and disturbing.

‘I felt like he was bragging, it wasn’t for any educational purposes.’

DS Grafham is also accused of making a series of sexually explicit comments to three female colleagues between March and December 2024.

He twice told Ms B as she was bent down by her desk: ‘I didn’t bring my bike to work today.’

Ms B said she was ‘absolutely mortified’ by the comment, adding: ‘I was too embarrassed at the time, I just sat at my desk and couldn’t believe he said that to me.’

She said she overheard Grafham mocking a Welsh colleague by describing his penis as ‘looking like a grandfather clock’ whil talking in a Welsh accent.

Another witness, known only as ‘Ms A’, sobbed as she recounted how she attended a mental health support session with Grafham, only for him to make repeated sexual remarks.

She said: ‘Before we went into the session, Grafs made a comment about how I “look sexy in your come-f**k-me boots.”’

The witness said Grafham told her after the session: ‘I found that really hard… I couldn’t concentrate because I was looking at your skirt.’

The detective later asked why she was attracted to anothe officer, adding: ‘Why not me?’

She said: ‘I was physically sick, I thought I was going to throw up.

‘I was looking at him like a dirty old man, [saying] you and I would never have that relationship.’

Ms A later discovered a Christmas card on her desk from Grafham which read: ‘If you want a “white Christmas” then pull your knickers down immediately, you are a true friend.’

She said she felt ‘sick’ upon reading a Christmas card from Grafham, saying: ‘I remember saying, oh that’s gross.

‘I remember him saying just don’t tell anyone, don’t tell and don’t show.’

Ms A reported the incident nonetheless, telling the tribunal: ‘Once I got over my shock I did everything I had to do, I did everything correct regardless of my friendship with Grafs.’

But she added: ‘I believe Grafs shouldn’t be at work… I’ve always said the same, people need to be looking out for him, he’s vulnerable.’

‘When his son died that destroyed him… the organisation needs to take some responsibility, because they never safeguarded him.

‘I made it very clear to his line manager he needed help.’

She added Grafham was not suspended from duty despite an earlier incident in which he was found to have ‘slipped in the shower from drinking and knocked himself out.’

His line manager told the tribunal she only put the detective on ‘low level’ administrative work and recommended a ‘detox’ after noticing a decrease in quality of his work.

But witness Ms B said: ‘We were obviously concerned about his behaviour, he had some health and mental health problems after the loss of his son.

‘I think sometimes because of that we give him too much leeway.’

DS Grafham, who was earlier demoted from an inspector, was later served a gross misconduct notice and suspended from duty for his alleged sexual remarks in December 2024.

He denied making some of those comments but accepted that he had written the Christmas card to Ms A.

He also denied retaining case material, including custody records, written correspondence and crime scene photographs from the investigation of the rape and murder of Sally Anne.

Giving evidence, a fellow officer referred to as ‘Ms C’, recounted how Grafham once told her: ‘You were exactly Mark Dixie’s type.’

Ms C said: ‘[It] creeped me out… I just walked off and thought, God, that’s my line manager now.’

She added it became a ‘running joke’ in the office how often Grafham would mention the Sally Anne Bowman murder, saying: ‘He mentions that every time, “run Mark Dixie’s fluid in case it was him”.’

‘That made me really uncomfortable, that he compared me to the unfortunate victim, rather than seeing me as a police officer who had spent 14 years in the homicide command.’

On one occasion when she was talking about some plastering that she wanted doing at her home, Grafham ‘grinned’ and said: ‘By the time I’ll have finished with you, you will look like a plasterer’s radio.’

She told the tribunal: ‘Even when he was thinking it, I can see him forming the joke in his head, “once I am finished with you”, I was really shocked.

‘It was so outrageous what he was implying, ejaculating on me, that’s what he was implying.

‘I thought he had more respect for me as a woman officer.’

But the sergeant would go on to make further remarks, including calling Ms C a ‘stupid bint’ and saying she was ‘wanking from home’ when she applied to work from home.

He was said to have ridiculed Ms C in an open office: ‘Of course she is going to work from home Friday before Christmas, more like wanking from home.’

The witness said: ‘I couldn’t believe he would say it in an open office, no one really responded.

‘I didn’t want to get into an argument with him then, but I was really furious.’

She said this was the ‘final straw’ following a series of remarks, including when he asked a gay officer: ‘Where did you get that shirt, GaysRUS?’

Ms C said: ‘He was immediately shut down by a younger officer.’

‘He’s got away with quite a lot over the years because he was funny, but it semeed ike he was pushing it for a reaction.

‘You never know with him if it’s a throwaway joke or comment,’ recounting how he once called her ‘fat and old’ in the office.

A search of Grafham’s desk later revealed ‘extremely graphic in situ’ photocopied crime scene images of Sally Anne in his locked cabinet.

Sally Anne’s partially naked body was left in a pool of blood on the driveway to her home in Croydon.

The tribunal heard Grafham was the exhibits officer in the investigation and talks about it regularly as if telling an ‘old war story’.

Ms C added: ‘He’s an unreconstituted dinosaur, he thinks he’s a legend in his own lifetime.’

The hearing continues.