The Met Police has been severely criticized after posting a ‘selfie’ of beat officers at a London murder scene just hours after a young man was killed.

The two police constables from Forest Gate North’s Safer Neighbourhoods Team stood in front of the Stratford Centre and put their heads together for the picture.

Pursing their lips in the bright sunshine, they captioned the picture: 'Crime scene at Stratford Mall today'.

Just 36 hours earlier, Beniamin Pieknyi, 20, had died in his friend’s arms after he was chased and stabbed by a gang at the same spot in east London.

The Met Police has been severely criticized after posting a ‘selfie’ of beat officers at a London murder scene just hours after a young man was killed

Just 36 hours earlier Beniamin Pieknyi had died in his friend’s arms after he was chased and stabbed by a gang at the same spot in east London

The two police constables from Forest Gate North’s Safer Neighbourhoods Team stood in front of the Stratford Centre and put their heads together for the picture

New Scotland Yard swiftly removed the offending selfie picture after being contacted by MailOnline and apologised

The ‘kind and helpful’ young man, who had recently arrived in the UK from Romania, had apparently stepped in to protect his friend during an altercation at the shopping centre.

It was the eighth killing in the capital in the past eight days.

The selfie – posted on Forest Gate North police’s twitter page – sparked fierce criticism.

‘Have you caught the perpetrator(s) yet?’, asked Mike Law.

‘Of course not, too busy posing for selfies.’

In a sarcastic remark another follower Natalie Croft, said: ‘Quite a few murders in the capital this week. I know!!! … let’s take a selfie by the crime scene.

George Armour condemned the officers as; ‘Dodgy looking characters!!!’

New Scotland Yard swiftly removed the offending selfie picture after being contacted by MailOnline and apologised.

The selfie – posted on Forest Gate North police’s twitter page – sparked fierce criticism. ‘Have you caught the perpetrator(s) yet?’, asked Mike Law. ‘Of course not, too busy posing for selfies.’ Pictured: The two officers involved in the selfie taking another 'portrait'

A Met Police spokesman said: 'We accept that the officers showed a lack of judgement and sensitivity in posting a "selfie" picture Tweet from the scene of a serious crime, and we apologise for any offence caused.

'The officers will be spoken to and reminded of how to use social media responsibly to keep the public informed of their work in the community, arrests and catching offenders. The Tweet has now been removed.'

Forest Gate North regularly posts pictures of its officers out and about on its Twitter feed and has previously joked about their phones not being good enough for selfies.

The gaffe comes after Wiltshire Police tweeted a grinning selfie in front of a potentially fatal car crash site.

The two officers from Salisbury Police were pictured in front of an overturned car on a snowy road last month.

The image was captioned: ‘Some photos just don’t need any words. Many warnings to drive safely today and thankfully nobody hurt in this incident.’

However, the picture caused huge alarm to the mother of hospital worker Georgina Oak, who recognized the car as her daughter’s without knowing whether or not she had got out alive.

Forest Gate North regularly posts pictures of its officers out and about on its Twitter feed and has previously joked about their phones not being good enough for selfies

Police tape surrounds the crime scene, where the two officers posed for their selfie

The gaffe comes after Wiltshire Police tweeted a grinning selfie of officers in front of an overturned car on a snowy road last month

Ms Oak wrote: ‘It’s my car and yes I am OK. But this is how my mum found out I was in a crash. I really appreciate how they helped and how quick they were to be there.’

Wiltshire Police later apologized to Ms Oak for their gaffe, saying: ‘I'm sorry your mum found out this way, but we were careful to not identify you or your car in this post and emphasise that nobody was hurt. Cars can be replaced: people can't.

'As you will understand, the photo was not taken until they had dealt with the emergency and has been used to highlight the dangers on the roads in these conditions.’