Three police officers face court over WhatsApp chats
Three police officers are to face charges in connection with “grossly offensive” comments made during WhatsApp group chats.
Rosemary Ainslie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Special Crime Division, said: “Following a referral of evidence by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the CPS has authorised charges against two serving Metropolitan Police officers and one former officer.
“All three will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on March 16 for their first hearing.
“Each of the three defendants has been charged with sending grossly offensive messages on a public communications network. The alleged offences took place on a WhatsApp group chat.
“The function of the CPS is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges to a court to consider.
“Criminal proceedings are active and nothing should be published that could jeopardise the defendants right to a fair trial.”
The charges came after an investigation by the IOPC, which said the offences are alleged to have occurred between April and August 2019.
