No consequences

Police officers watched TV in missing woman’s apartment

(Bild: kamaeraone)

Waiting can be pretty boring - that's probably what two British police officers thought when they had to wait in the apartment of a woman who had gone missing. The officers made themselves comfortable, watched Netflix and worked out with a dumbbell. Although they were filmed doing so, they did not face any consequences.

The officers were called because 21-year-old Abbygail Lawton from Wigan in the British county of Greater Manchester was reported missing. While the police officers waited to see if the young woman would return to her apartment, they made themselves comfortable in the living room for hours. They were filmed by a surveillance camera.

Police officers were watching a cooking program
One of the officers turned on the TV and scrolled through the missing woman's Netflix account, "and made comments about what I had seen," Abigail told the Daily Mail after she had returned safe and sound and seen the footage from her living room. Among other things, the police officers are said to have seen "Come dine with me" - a competition for amateur chefs similar to "Das perfekte Dinner" in German-speaking countries. The other used a dumbbell before joining his colleague on the couch.

The officers took advantage of the waiting time - they watched Netflix and worked out in the missing woman's apartment while colleagues searched for her.(Bild: kamaeraone)

Missing woman was found and arrested
The 21-year-old was only found after eleven hours - she had suffered a mental health crisis. In the meantime, a police helicopter and a drone were used to search for the young woman. When she was discovered, she was arrested and had to spend a night in prison for "wasting police time".

Abbygail filed a complaint with Greater Manchester Police against the officers - she feels her privacy was violated by their behavior. She also claims that she was wrongly arrested because she was in a mental health crisis. 

The two police officers, on the other hand, do not face any consequences. They were merely asked to "reflect" on their actions and learn from the incident.