Apology after Essex officers joked about death of Paul Hardcastle's son in crash
Footage showed three officers making remarks after the crash in which Paul Jr died
A police force has apologised after officers were captured on body-worn video footage joking about the death of the son of musician Paul Hardcastle in a crash.
Essex Police said the remarks made by the officers were "needless, insensitive and unacceptable".
The 35-year-old, Paul Jr, died on 12th January after his motorcycle was involved in a crash with a van near Ongar, Essex.
He was being pursued by police at the time.
The story was first reported in The Times newspaper.
The footage was found by police watchdog the IOPC in June.
It showed three female constables joking about Paul Jr's death.
The three officers were not involved in the pursuit but were sent to the scene after the crash.
One of the officers laughed as she asked colleagues if it was the wrong time to reveal that Paul Jr had complained about her failure to properly investigate a road rage incident in which his vehicle had suffered £750 of damage.
A transcript indicates one of the others replied that she could consider the complaint closed, and added a remark about every cloud.
The IOPC found the footage during an investigation triggered automatically by the death.
That investigation found officers had behaved properly in the pursuit.
Paul Hardcastle topped the charts in 1985 with the song 19.
He told The Times he had taken some comfort from the fact the pursuit officer tried her utmost to save his son's life.
He said he was completely stunned when he was shown the body-worn footage.
Mr Hardcastle said: "It was the constant laughing and sniggering.
"There was no respect.
"How do they treat members of the public who are alive if that's how they treat the dead?"
He said he learned the three officers were assigned reflective practice, which is described as the lowest form of censure in policing.
He called it a box-ticking exercise that will have no impact on their conduct.
Mr Hardcastle is pushing for more serious misconduct proceedings.
Chief Superintendent Scott Egerton of Essex Police said: "I offer an unreserved apology to Mr Hardcastle's family for the profound distress these remarks have caused.
"The comments were made by officers who were not involved in the initial response or the determined efforts to save Mr Hardcastle's life, having attended the scene later.
"They should have demonstrated the highest standards of compassion and professionalism.
"Their remarks were needless, insensitive and unacceptable.
"When this matter was brought to our attention, we took action.
"Our professional standards department investigated the matter, and the behaviour was addressed directly with the officers involved.
"I want Mr Hardcastle's family to know that we recognise the hurt these comments have caused and that they should never have been put in this position."
An IOPC spokesperson said investigators reviewed officers' body-worn video as part of their investigation and discovered officers who later arrived at the scene making some inappropriate remarks.
The spokesperson said: "The IOPC notified the man's family about the inappropriate remarks and showed them the footage.
"We also notified the force about the matter, which was separate from our investigation, for it to deal with appropriately."
The spokesperson said the family then made a complaint about the inappropriate remarks, and about the handling of the matter as being subject to the reflective practice review process.
This was referred to the IOPC, which said it decided the matter should be investigated by the force.