Ex-Met officers given suspended sentences over racist WhatsApp messages

Deputy chief magistrate Tan Ikran said they had harmed public confidence in the police, and didn't accept that their views were merely 'antiquated'.

Six former Metropolitan Police officers have been handed suspended prison sentences after sending racist, sexist and homophobic messages on WhatsApp.

Deputy chief magistrate Tan Ikran said they had harmed public confidence in the police, and didn’t accept that their views were merely ‘antiquated’.

The six defendants were no longer serving officers during their participation in the WhatsApp group.

The allegations came to light following a BBC Newsnight investigation.

All six former officers were convicted of improper use of a public electronic communications network at Westminster magistrates court.

Michael Chadwell, 62, Peter Booth, 66, Anthony Elsom, 67, Trevor Lewton, 65, Alan Hall, 65, and Robert Lewis, 62, were all sentenced to between six and 14 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months.

Mr Ikran said the messages were ‘offensive to many good people in this country and not only people who might be directly offended’.

All six were members of the ‘Old Boys Beer Meet – Wales’ group chat, where a number of racist, homophobic and sexist messages were exchanged.

More than 60 messages with offensive content were shared between members of the group during the two-year period, including references to the Duchess of Sussex, the late Queen and the late Duke of Edinburgh, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Adeniyi Ogunleye, senior crown prosecutor at the CPS, said: ‘It is shocking that six retired police officers who spent their careers upholding the law could think it was acceptable to send these grossly offensive messages.

‘The sentences given today clearly demonstrate that they were not just shocking or disturbing jokes, but grossly offensive messages that amount to criminal behaviour.

‘This case sends a clear signal that whenever our legal test is met, the CPS will prosecute these offences robustly.’

The group, who retired between 2001 and 2015, served in various parts of the Met throughout their careers – but all spent time in the Diplomatic Protection Group, now known as the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command.

Met Commander James Harman said: ‘The racist and discriminatory content of these messages is absolutely appalling and, given the defendants once served as police officers, we recognise that this case may further damage confidence in policing.

‘Colleagues across the Met will also be disgusted and will be pleased to see the outcome today.

‘The messages were brought to our attention by the BBC’s Newsnight programme in October 2022, and we made our first arrest soon after we were notified.

‘I hope this case also demonstrates our commitment to take all allegations of criminality and misconduct seriously, investigate those reports thoroughly and, where we have evidence of discrimination and abuse, to bring criminal charges against individuals.’

Commander Harman added the WhatsApp messages were ‘less about the technology’ and more to do with ‘the underlying mindset and the conduct that is so important for us to deal with’.

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