Metropolitan Police officers have been sacked after sharing “abhorrent and discriminatory” messages in a Whatsapp group chat, including a racist joke about Meghan Markle, in 2018.PCs Sukhdev Jeer and Paul Hefford's actions were deemed to amount to gross misconduct at a tribunal today (July 1).
The offensive posts, including one comparing the Duchess of Sussex to a Golliwog doll, were deemed “discriminatory and serious in nature”.READ MORE: Shocking moment two Met Police officers 'brutally beat teenage boy, 16, in back garden'The tribunal heard how the officers failed to challenge or report the messages.
The officers had worked in a unit at Bethnal Green police station in East London.Chairman Maurice Cohen said that "dismissal is the only appropriate action" and slammed the posts as "highly corrosive and discriminatory" to members of the public "including those in the local community" they served.He also noted how the posts took place “over an extended period of time” and that the officers “should have been aware” of their “unacceptable nature”.He added: “[They] should have been aware these posts were overtly racist, ableist and sexist.”The ruling means the officers cannot be employed by any police forces in the UK.
Former PC Richard Hammond's messages, which were also assessed at the tribunal, were deemed to amount to misconduct rather than gross misconduct.
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