Retired TV police officer faces charges over woman’s death

A 61-year-old police officer known from television is facing charges of negligent homicide and breach of official duty after a young woman was found dead at home, Yle reports.

The alleged offences took place in Uusimaa in April 2023, when the officer was working as a field supervisor. According to information obtained by Yle, he received a request through the emergency response centre concerning a woman who needed an ambulance at a private residence.

The officer is accused of recording the assignment as completed even though neither police nor an ambulance went to the address. The woman was reportedly found dead at home the following day.

The officer has since retired. He appeared in the television series Poliisit and worked at least for the Eastern Uusimaa Police Department.

Special prosecutor Jonna Ryynänen told Yle that she is seeking a short suspended prison sentence. She declined to comment further on the charges or the description of events. The officer’s defence lawyer also declined to comment on the events or say whether the officer denies or admits the charges.

The charges of negligent homicide and breach of official duty will be heard at the Eastern Uusimaa District Court in early September. The trial was originally due to begin earlier this year, but was delayed because the case was still being investigated.

Two previous convictions for breach of official duty

According to Yle, the same officer has previously faced trial twice on a total of five charges. He was convicted of some offences and acquitted of others.

Last year, he was charged with stalking his former wife. Prosecutors alleged that he had sent her abusive messages and monitored her outside her home from a police car. In one message, he wrote that committing a homicide would be cheaper than paying child support.

He was also charged with two breaches of official duty for allegedly accessing information about his former wife and her child without authorisation through a police system. The alleged offences took place between 2019 and 2022.

The court rejected the stalking charge, finding that the messages did not meet the legal criteria for stalking and that it had not been proven that the officer had monitored his former wife from a police car. The court said the comment referring to homicide was connected to court mediation over child support rather than to the alleged stalking.

However, the officer was convicted of two breaches of official duty for unlawfully accessing information and was fined.

In 2021, he was charged with assault and breach of official duty over an incident during police duties. Prosecutors alleged that he had strangled a detained man and used a method of force that could not be considered justified for calming him down.

The court dismissed both charges, finding the evidence contradictory. The account given by the officer’s patrol partner supported the conclusion that no strangling had taken place, while the detained man’s account was not consistent.