Two Metropolitan Police officers sacked after posting sick WhatsApp messages about Meghan Markle
TWO Met Police cops have been sacked after posting sick messages about Meghan Markle in a group chat.
PC Sukhdev Jeer and PC Paul Hefford, who worked in a unit at Bethnal Green police station in east London, made racist comments on WhatsApp in 2018.
Their actions, labelled “abhorrent and discriminatory”, amounted to gross misconduct, a tribunal decided on Friday.
Both have now been dismissed from the force.
The hearing at the Empress State Building, in west London, heard the posts, including one comparing Meghan to a golliwog toy, were “discriminatory and serious in nature”.
Former officer Richard Hammond, who was a member of the group at the time, also shared grim comments.
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Chairman Maurice Cohen blasted: “Dismissal is the only appropriate action.”
He slammed the posts as “highly corrosive and discriminatory” to members of the public “including those in the local community”.
“The postings in this group caused serious reputational damage to the Metropolitan Police as a whole,” he said.
“They were mocking and discriminatory to many sections of society the Metropolitan Police force was meant to be policing.
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“Bethnal Green is an extremely diverse area.”
In one message, PC Jeer shared an image of a golliwog toy that was captioned: “A sneak preview at Meghan’s wedding dress.”
Another was of a young boy in a hoodie, which was captioned “monkey in the jungle”.
A further post said: “Everyone is so politically correct these days.
“You can’t even say, ‘Black paint,’ you have to say, ‘Tyrone can you please paint that wall?'”.
SICK MESSAGES
The cop told the hearing he was “not in a good place” and had used the language to cope with the “issues” he had been suffering at the time.
PC Hefford posted a message of two black men lying next to two white women.
It was captioned: “Girls’ trip to Jamaica. One came back pregnant, the other came back with syphilis. (Just kidding, they’re both still missing.)”
Lawyers for both cops argued they shouldn’t be sacked.
Michael Shaw, representing Hefford, said the officer found his posts “embarrassing and difficult” and has learned a “sad lesson”.
‘NOT IN A GOOD PLACE’
He added: “Simply sacking him won’t restore public confidence in the Met.”
Barrister Ben Summers said Jeer should not be dismissed over a “handful of inappropriate jokes” which caused “limited harm”.
But Mr Cohen said: “These standards fell seriously short of those expected of a Metropolitan Police officer.”
Today’s news comes just days after the Met was put into special measures for the first time ever – meaning it’s officially ranked as one of Britain’s lowest-performing forces.
A damning watchdog report blasted the force for numerous fiascos, including the murder of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens.
I hardly need to say it is completely unacceptable for anyone, let alone a police officer, to behave in such a manner
Commander Jon Savell
Inspectors also called out a number of incidents connected to race, including the strip-search of a black schoolgirl and the “racially-profiled” stop and search of Team GB sprinter Bianca Williams.
There was also criticism of racist WhatsApp messages exchanged by officers at Charing Cross Police Station.
Commander Jon Savell of the force’s Professional Standards department said today: “These vile messages were shared in 2018 within a closed WhatsApp group between a small group of officers.
“I hardly need to say it is completely unacceptable for anyone, let alone a police officer, to behave in such a manner. The actions of these three are inexcusable.
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“The whole of the Met is focused on rooting out anyone who displays this type of behaviour and lets down the Met and the public we serve.
“Behaviour like this will absolutely not be tolerated and we are driving that message home to our officers and staff at every opportunity.”