2 July 2022 05:41 GMT
Two British police officers have been sacked over “inappropriate” WhatsApp comments that included a racist joke about the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle.
An investigative panel looked into messages written by Sokdev Gere and Paul Heifford, both of Bethnal Green police in east London, via a WhatsApp group in 2018.
The panel concluded that the two had committed “gross misconduct”.
The commission heard more details about racist messages; One includes a racial insult to the Duchess of Sussex shortly before her marriage to Prince Harry.
Maurice Cohen, head of the inquiry, said the letters sent by the two included “stinging and discriminatory insults to a number of people, some of them from the local community” in which they work.
The two were also accused of “failing to report abusive messages sent by other members of the group” via the WhatsApp application.
‘Extremely damaged’
At a previous hearing, Cohen said, “The messages in that group have done a lot of damage to the reputation of the Metropolitan Police in general.”
He noted that this content was sent to the WhatsApp group chat “over a long period of time”, and that Gere and Hefford should have discovered the “unacceptable nature” of those messages.
photo released, Getty Images
Gere told the hearing that he was not “in good shape” and that he used that language to be able to cope with “problems” he was going through.
Attorney Ben Summers said he could not be fired for “inappropriate jokes that did limited harm”, suggesting he should have received a warning rather than being fired.
Michael Shaw, who represents Helford, said he admitted his letters were “embarrassing and difficult” and that he had “learned a hard lesson”.
Lawyer Vishal Misra, who represented the Metropolitan Police, said: “The investigation body found that the messages were inappropriate and discriminatory in nature, and the damage they did to public confidence was significant and long-term.”
“Once trust is lost, it is not easy to regain it,” he added, noting that the separation of the two was aimed at preserving public confidence in the police.