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Five former Metropolitan Police officers have pleaded guilty in Westminster Magistrates’ Court to sending extremely offensive racist messages on WhatsApp, including about the Duchess of Sussex.
They pleaded guilty on Thursday afternoon in Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
One of them, Robert Lewis, was a Home Office official before he was fired for gross misconduct last November, the Home Office said.
Lewis, 62, of Camberley, Surrey, admitted to eight counts of sending by public communication extremely offensive racist messages. He retired from the Met in May 2015.
Peter Booth, 66, of Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, pleaded guilty to four counts of sending by public communication extremely offensive racist messages. He retired from the Met in April 2001.
Anthony Elsom, 67, of Bournemouth, Dorset, pleaded guilty to three counts of sending extremely offensive racist messages by public communication. He retired from the Met in May 2012.
Alan Hall, 65, of Stowmarket, Suffolk, pleaded guilty to three counts of sending by public communication extremely offensive racist messages. He retired from the Met in June 2015.
Trevor Lewton, 65, of Swansea, South Wales, has pleaded guilty to one count of sending extremely offensive racist messages by public communication. He retired from the Met in August 2009.
This is the latest in a series of offensive messages shared on WhatsApp by police officers.
According to BBC Newsnight, the group shared racist images that were too offensive to air, and the posts used the “strongest racist slurs”, including the P-word and the N-word.
Some posts referred to the government’s policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, while others joked about the floods in Pakistan which killed nearly 1,700 people.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were also featured in several memes, alongside racist remarks, it has been reported.
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theguardian