Six ex-London police officers arrested for offensive messages

Six former London police officers were arrested in connection to offensive messages targeting Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and other political figures. The incident, which took place on December 8, involved racially and sexually offensive messages sent through WhatsApp.

The issue came to light following an investigation by BBC’s Newsnight. The accused include Michael Chadwell, Peter Booth, Anthony Elsom, Trevor Lewton, Allan Hall, and Robert Lewis. They were previously responsible for the protection of politicians and diplomats but were dismissed due to their inappropriate conduct from 2020 to 2022.

Their derogatory messages were not limited to the Duchess of Sussex but also targeted Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Queen Elizabeth II, and the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

The offensive messages also named several politicians including UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, former Home Secretary Priti Patel, and former Health Secretary Sajid Javid. In September, five of the men admitted their guilt, while Chadwell denied the charges. However, in November, he was found guilty.

On December 7, the Westminster Magistrates’ Court found all six guilty of inappropriate use of technology for communication. They were sentenced to between 6-14 weeks in prison and 12 months suspended sentence, alongside community service.

James Harman, the Metropolitan Police’s Anti-Corruption and Integrity Command stated, The messages, filled with racial and discriminatory treatment, are shocking. And considering the perpetrators were police officers, we realise this case could undermine public confidence in the police.

Police defence

Deputy Judge Tan Ikram maintained that the messages fuelled hatred towards the people who contribute positively to the country. He dismissed the argument that the court’s judgment was archaic and rejected the argument that the messages were jokes and were private, not public posts.

“This is something they should have known, and I find it hard to accept the argument that they didn’t know it was a racist message.”

Deputy Judge Tan added that even though the actions took place in a private group, there was a chance they would be shared publicly.

This incident adds to the Metropolitan Police’s list of scandals. Earlier in March, the department was reported to be riddled with systemic racism, misogyny, discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community, and inappropriate conduct by some officers.

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