A Metropolitan Police officer has pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office after stealing money from a man who died after collapsing.

Pc Craig Carter, of Harlow, Essex, stole around £115 from Italian filmmaker and actor Claudio Gaetani between September 7 and 14 2022.

Wearing a dark suit, the 51-year-old appeared at Wood Green Crown Court on Friday to plead guilty to the charge, which stated that “while acting as a public officer namely as a police constable” he “took for his own use money from a wallet received by him in evidence in relation to a sudden death”.

Judge Daniel Fugallo said: “I have to make absolutely clear that an immediate custodial sentence seems the likely outcome in this case but that will be a matter for the sentencing judge.”

The judge ordered a pre-sentence report and granted Carter unconditional bail ahead of his sentencing at the same court on September 13.

He added: “Neither the ordering of the report nor the fact that I am granting you bail should be taken as any indication to the type of sentence you will receive.”

Carter, who works for the Met’s North Area Command Unit which covers Enfield and Haringey, is suspended from duty.

Mr Gaetani, from Marche, was reportedly visiting London for a theatre festival at the Southbank Centre.

According to The Mirror, the 45-year-old, who had dwarfism, was cycling to meet a couple he was staying with in north London when he collapsed and died in the street.

The Met launched an investigation after the wife found money missing from Mr Gaetani’s wallet when she collected his belongings from the police, the newspaper reported.

She told The Mirror: “I think it is really disrespectful. I was really, really upset.”

Her husband, who attended university with Mr Gaetani, told the outlet he was “the type of person when you meet you can fall in love with, absolutely cheerful and positive, even with his physical condition of dwarfism he was never saying no to any adventure.

“We spent a lot of time travelling.”

Tetteh Turkson, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said Carter fell “woefully short” of the public’s expectations of a police officer.

He added: “The fact Carter thought he could freely steal from a victim who had sadly passed away is not only disturbing, but deeply disrespectful to the victim’s family. Our thoughts remain with them at this time.

“After collaborative work from the CPS and Metropolitan Police Service, Carter was left with no option but to plead guilty and face the consequences of his actions.”

Detective Superintendent Marco Bardetti, from North Area, said the evidence against Carter “could not be denied”.

“In September 2022, PC Carter was responsible for looking after a man who had sadly died in the street, as well as taking responsibility for his personal possessions,” he added.

“A family, struggling to come to terms with the death of a loved one, should not be put in a position where they have to make a complaint against an officer, suspecting that they have taken money.

“The Met is not an organisation that will tolerate such behaviour.”