Met officers dismissed over racist banter on WhatsApp
The Independent|July 02, 2022
PC Sukhdev Jeer, right, and PC Paul Hefford have been sacked
THOMAS KINGSLEY
Met officers dismissed over racist banter on WhatsApp

Two Metropolitan police officers have been dismissed after exchanging racist messages on a WhatsApp group, including a comparison between Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and a racially offensive toy.

PC Sukhdev Jeer and PC Paul Hefford, both attached to Forensic Services, were found to have been involved in "highly offensive and discriminatory behaviour", a tribunal ruled. An allegation was also proven for former PC Richard Hammond, previously attached to Met Operations.

The panel heard that PC Jeer had posted a meme that showed an image of an old-fashioned toy representing a caricature of a Black person, captioned: "A sneak preview at Meghan's wedding dress." Responding to this, PC Jeer said he had not found this funny even at the time. "The fact that someone out there can create this, that is not a nice thing to do. I posted this on the group not to laugh at it but [to show] that there are people out there who still do this and find it funny," Jeer said.

Commander Jon Savell, of the Directorate of Professional Standards at the Met, said: "These vile messages were shared in 2018 within a closed WhatsApp group between a small group of officers. I hardly need to say it is completely unacceptable for anyone, let alone a police officer, to behave in such a manner. The actions of these three are inexcusable.

This story is from the July 02, 2022 edition of The Independent.

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This story is from the July 02, 2022 edition of The Independent.

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