PC Avi Maharaj used grieving family’s TV account to download pornography
Written by News on 06/08/2019
The grieving father of a boy who died at their family home wrongly believed that he had been using their cable TV account to buy pornography after a police officer fraudulently downloaded more than £25 of explicit material while waiting at the house for the undertaker.
Avi Maharaj was called to the property in February last year following the death of the 14-year-old boy.
While there alone, the Metropolitan Police officer – who was based in Earlsfield – used the Virgin Media account linked to the television to purchase pornography worth £25.96.
The 44-year-old attempted to cover up his actions by falsifying attendance logs, which left the father thinking that his son had been downloading it himself before his death.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard of how “his last impression of his son” was that he had been accessing the adult material, which prosecutor Rose Edwin said had caused him distress.
It was only when the father contacted Virgin Media and was told what time the clips were downloaded that he realised his son could not have been responsible.
Maharaj, who has pleaded guilty to a charge of fraud over the incident, was told his actions were “completely insensible” by defence lawyer Edmund Gritt, who acknowledged that his policing career was “terminated”.
He is also facing jail time for his crime and was due to be sentenced this week, but it will now take place at a later date after the case was referred to Southwark Crown Court.
Speaking upon his conviction last month, Independent Office for Police Conduct regional director Sal Naseem described his behaviour as “shocking” and “deceitful”.
“Not only were his actions deceitful but he caused considerable distress for the family involved who were dealing with the sudden death of a family member,” he added.
“I am sorry that the family involved had to deal with this while also coping with the tragic loss of their child.”
(c) Sky News 2019: PC Avi Maharaj used grieving family’s TV account to download pornography
