LONDON, United Kingdom – Five former London law enforcement officials on Thursday admitted sending grossly offensive racist messages to one another on WhatsApp, which included references to Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and different members of the royal household.
The 5 officers, who’ve all retired, have been charged after an investigation by BBC’s Newsnight program which found the lads had despatched the messages between August 2018 and September 2022, a interval once they had all left the police.
Three of the messages featured racist feedback about Meghan, the spouse of King Charles’ youthful son, Prince Harry. Meghan’s mom is Black and her father is white.
One of those messages additionally included an image of the late Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip, whereas others referenced Charles’ eldest son and inheritor Prince William and his spouse Kate, together with Rishi Sunak, Britain’s first prime minister of coloration.
The former officers, aged of their 60s, pleaded responsible to sending offensive messages at a listening to at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
“The racist and discriminatory content of these messages is absolutely appalling and, given the defendants once served as police officers, we recognize that this case may further damage confidence in policing,” mentioned Commander James Harman, who leads the Metropolitan Police’s Anti-Corruption and Abuse Command.
The London power has been tormented by scandal lately and an unbiased evaluate in March concluded it was institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic. Its new chief, Mark Rowley, has promised to rid it of unsuitable people amongst its greater than 43,000 officers and workers.
The 5 males had all labored in varied departments on the police however had all served within the Diplomatic Protection Group, which within the final yr has seen one former member convicted of homicide and rape, and one other jailed for finishing up 24 rapes and different intercourse offences over 20 years. — Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
