TV-known police officer faces charges over young woman’s death
Finland A 61-year-old police officer known from television is facing charges of causing the death of a young woman and breaching official duties, Yle reports. The charges were due to be heard at the Eastern Uusimaa District Court on Thursday.
The alleged offences took place in Uusimaa in April 2023. Yle is following the hearing, which was scheduled to begin at 9am, in a live-updated report.
Police officers are rarely prosecuted or convicted on the grounds that they caused another person’s death while on duty.
What is known about the case
According to information obtained by Yle, the officer was working as a field commander at the time of the alleged offences.
Police allegedly received information through the emergency response centre about a woman who needed an ambulance at a private residence. The field commander is accused of recording the assignment as completed even though neither police nor an ambulance attended the address.
Yle understands that the woman was found dead at home the following day.
Special prosecutor Jonna Ryynänen told Yle before the hearing that she would seek a short suspended prison sentence for the officer. She did not comment on the content of the charges or the description of events before the district court proceedings began.
The officer’s defence lawyer also declined to comment in advance on the events or on whether the officer would deny or admit the charges.
Previous convictions
The same officer has previously been convicted of two breaches of official duty. He was also charged with stalking his ex-wife and assaulting a detained man, but those charges were dismissed.
In the cases that led to the convictions, the officer unlawfully accessed information about his ex-wife and her child in a police database.
The officer was also suspected of assaulting a one-year-old child. He denied committing the offence.
The prosecutor did not bring charges because the limitation period for the suspected assault had expired. Assault charges become time-barred after five years, while nearly 10 years had passed since the alleged acts.