A Metropolitan Police officer was in WhatsApp groups that swapped racist and sexist messages including a joke about Black Cab Rapist John Worboys, atribunal has heard.
The officer, who worked in transport policing from King's Cross police station, replied with laughing emojis when friends sent derogatory messagesabout Muslims and black people.
He posted a video on WhatsApp referring to a “black b******d”, and offered no challenge when sexist, demeaning and pornographic images of women wereshared on the group, including one referring to “slags”.
The tribunal heard one of the officer’s friends shared a custody image of John Worboys together with the caption "and an UBER driver called John being 5 minutes away".
Worboys was dubbed the Black Cab Rapist for a campaign of drugging and sexually attacking women after picking them up in his taxi late at night. He is currently serving two life sentences in prison.
The Met Police officer replied with four laughing face emojis to the Worboys message sent in January 2018.
The officer, who quit the Met last month, was granted anonymity and was referred to as ‘Officer A’ as he was hauled before a misconduct hearing, which concluded that he should be barred from policing.
Detective Chief Superintendent Christina Jessah leading the Met’s Roads and Transport Policing Command said: “The nature of the images and messages on former Officer A’s phone are disgusting.
“Officer A had numerous opportunities to challenge the messages he had received however he failed at every turn instead he inexplicably choseto engage with the messages and respond positively.“It is right that he no longer has the privilege of serving the public as a Metropolitan Police officer. This also serves as a reminder to other officersthat endorsement of such abhorrent views will not be tolerated and each of us has a strict duty to do the right thing at all times.”The investigation began after Officer A’s phone was handed to professional standards in 2018 after being seized in a separate investigation. Scotland Yard said the officer was charged with three offences of possession of an extreme pornographic image, as well as possession of an indecent image of a child. He was cleared of all the offences earlier this year following criminal proceedings.
The misconduct hearing was told one of the WhatsApp messages came from special constable who wrote: "I ordered a blow-up doll for myself. They sent me a Muslim woman wearing a bomb vest.”
Officer A responded with the words “f*cks sake” and two laughing face emojis, and he had the same response to another message stereotyping black men.
Ruling on the John Worboys message, the misconduct panel ruled that it was “offensive”.
“It is likely to offend not just women but ordinary members of the public, who would be shocked that such serious offences were being made light of.
“Officer A's response of laughter emojis clearly indicates approval and encouragement.”
During the hearing, Officer A insisted he would challenge racist and sexist messages sent to him in the future, and he admitted to “poordecisions”.
The panel found the officer would have been dismissed if he had not already resigned.
