Eight serving and former Metropolitan Police officers have been found guilty of gross misconduct over "discriminatory and offensive" messages they shared, including some which made fun of Katie Price's disabled son. The officers, seven men and one woman, were found to have sent sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic and disablist comments in a WhatsApp group called "Secret Squirrel Sh*t" between May 17, 2016 and June 26, 2018.
Legal chairman Christopher McKay described gross misconduct as a "breach of the standards of professional behaviour that is so serious as to justify dismissal", during the fifth day of hearings at Palestra House in Southwark, central London, on Thursday. He found each officer to have committed gross misconduct over their own messages, as well as by "failing to challenge or report" the conduct of others in the group.
The hearing concerned former sergeant Luke Thomas, former acting sergeant Luke Allen, former Pc Kelsey Buchan, former Pc Carlo Francisco, former Pc Lee South, former Pc Darren Jenner, Pc Glynn Rees, and Officer B, who has been granted anonymity. Their messages included derogatory comments about 20-year-old Mr Price, who suffers from Prader-Willi syndrome and autism, and about a junior female officer, known in the hearings as Officer A.
