Six former Metropolitan Police officers have been charged with sending grossly offensive racist messages on WhatsApp, the force said.
The charges come after a BBC Newsnight investigation in October last year which prompted a probe by the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards.
Some of the racist messages shared in the chat were allegedly about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, according to the BBC.
The BBC also reported last year that one of the men, Robert Lewis, was a Home Office official who had been suspended by the government department.
The six men charged are:
– Peter Booth, 66, of Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, who has been charged with four counts of sending by public communication grossly offensive racist messages. He retired from the Met in April 2001.
– Robert Lewis, 62, of Camberley, Surrey, who has been charged with eight counts of sending by public communication grossly offensive racist messages. He retired from the Met in May 2015.
– Anthony Elsom, 67, of Bournemouth, Dorset, who has been charged with three counts of sending by public communication grossly offensive racist messages. He retired from the Met in May 2012.
– Alan Hall, 65, of Stowmarket, Suffolk, who has been charged with three counts of sending by public communication grossly offensive racist messages. He retired from the Met in June 2015.
– Michael Chadwell, 62, of Liss, Hampshire, who has been charged with one count of sending by public communication grossly offensive racist messages. He retired from the Met in November 2015.
– Trevor Lewton, 65, of Swansea, South Wales, who has been charged with one count of sending by public communication grossly offensive racist messages. He retired from the Met in August 2009.
The probe found that inappropriate communications were shared within a closed WhatsApp group between August 2018 and September 2022, the Met said.
The officers, who retired between 2001 and 2015, have been charged by post with offences under the Communications Act 2003 and will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on September 7.
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