A grieving mum has slammed police for posting a Top Gun GIF to praise themselves for identifying her daughter’s dead body.
Nevres Kemal’s 24-year-old daughter Azra died when she fell from a dual carriageway bridge in July 2020.
Azra was fleeing a burning car in Kent, England and police were called to the scene.
On the same day she died, the crime scene investigators for Kent Police shared a tweet congratulating themselves.
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They wrote: “A really busy morning for all of the Kent CSI’s, with the wonders of modern technology we were able to identify a deceased person within about 90 mins of being at the scene by sending an image of a fingerprint direct to our FP Bureau. Great teamwork.”
This tweet was then posted alongside a GIF of Top Gun’s Maverick and Goose high-fiving.
Nevres told Sky News: “That tweet was just horrendous. I could not believe that professional police officers would high-five themselves and pat themselves on the back, on the back of my daughter’s demise.
“It’s more than insensitive. It’s unacceptable that the forensic team in Kent think that that’s acceptable.
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"What is the mindset of people investigating crimes on our behalf? What is their mindset?”
And that wasn’t the only tweet. Another celebrated their use of drones, with Kent Police CSI writing: “Great to work with @kentpoliceroads this morning who covered our scene with their drones. #crackingbitofkit.”
They later also tweeted they were ‘satisfied there are no suspicious circumstances’, even though the grieving mother says she was told they were still investigating at that time.
On the fatal night, Azra was travelling back to London with a male friend, who said she hasn’t seen the drop between the carriageways as she climbed over the barrier.
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A standard post-mortem was conducted, but the family believe the investigation was wrapped up too quickly.
A spokesperson for Kent Police told LADbible: “Kent Police carried out a full and thorough investigation following the death of a woman who fell from a road bridge of the A21, on 16 July 2020. Officers determined there were no suspicious circumstances, and a man who had initially been arrested in connection with the incident was released without charge.
“A police investigation into the circumstances then continued for several months to assist an inquest by the coroner. The subsequent inquest into the death returned a verdict of misadventure.
“A complaint about the quality of the investigation was made to Kent Police in November 2020. This complaint was sent to an independent force to review, which concluded the service provided by Kent Police had been acceptable.
“In 2022, The Independent Office for Police Conduct received a request to carry out a further investigation into the complaint.
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"In response, the IOPC concluded that the investigation into the complaint had been ‘reasonable and proportionate’ and that that an acceptable service had been provided in respect of the criminal investigation into the woman’s death. A request to review the complaint was not upheld.”
The complaint surrounding Kent Police’s Top Gun tweet is being reviewed by an independent police force and the tweets have been removed.
Jess Battison