A former Warrington Wolves player has been dropped from the team for sending racist WhatsApp messages.
Samantha Simpson was found to have breached the Standards at the level of Gross Misconduct and would have been dismissed from the force without notice had she still been serving. It comes after misconduct hearing, held at Merseyside police headquarters, on Tuesday, June 6, found she had breached police conduct regulations on multiple occasions between July 2019 to January 2022.
Simpson also played plays outside backs for the Warrington Wolves, however, the club has now confirmed she has been stood down from selection.
READ MORE: These are the vile WhatsApp messages that got a Merseyside Police officer sacked
In a statement, shared on the club's website, a spokesperson for Warrington Wolves said: "Warrington Wolves is aware of reports regarding our women's player Samantha Simpson.
"The club recognises the seriousness of this report and will be making further inquiries with the player. Samantha has been stood down from selection with immediate effect. The club will be making no further comment at this stage."
Simpson worked as a constable at Merseyside police since 2017 but now she has been placed on the College of Policing Barred List.
Most of the breaches were in the form of WhatsApp message, where Simpson repeatedly used the racial slur "P***." While on duty, on July 8, 2019, Simpson sent a message to her then boyfriend, Ben Jones, where she discussed mobile phone holders on sale at petrol stations.
She said: "Won’t be leaving, just got some paperwork to do, I am gonna actually go into a phone shop in town tho, I don’t go to them garages cause they’ve got weird pervy P**** in them, like never have gone in there xxxx."
On December 22, 2021, Simpson was messaging her ex about buying clothes and boots. She commented that she had been given the wrong pair of boots, messaging: "Omfg they have given me the wrong boots Ben, no, the f**** P*** c****, hasn’t checked the box has he."
When discussing whether or not she should have added a member of her wrestling team, on June 2, 2020, Ben said: "Did we make a promise" to which Simpson replied "Yeah sorry but he doesn’t really count he’s an Indian. Like a p*** basically."
She then sent him a screen shot and pointed out the person who had been added, Ben Jones, reiterates your agreement with him and states "Looks like a P*** as well not" to which she responded: "Yep well he’s Indian, I call them all P****, not white or English is he."
On November 5, 2020, she asked Ben: "Reckon the p*** shop on Old Roan will sell sparklers." Speaking after the hearing, Chief Superintendent Jennifer Wilson, Head of the force’s Professional Standards Department, said: "We demand the highest possible standards from officers and staff, whether they are on duty or off duty.
"On this occasion, Constable Simpson did not meet those standards, and it is right that she has had to answer for her behaviour in front of an independent chair. The racist language used by this officer was appalling and this outcome yet again shows that we will take a zero- tolerance approach to racism within our force.
"Our approach to calling out and tackling racism head on sends out a clear message to our colleagues and the communities of the high standards which we expect and are essential in building trust and confidence in our communities. The public rightly have high expectations of our officers and Merseyside Police is committed to ensuring we meet those expectations.
"So when information is received about those alleged to have fallen below those standards in any way, our dedicated Professional Standards Department will always carry out a thorough investigation to ensure the public across Merseyside can continue to have confidence in the Police Service.
"The overwhelming majority of our police officers and staff act with respect, professionalism and integrity at all times. We want to keep it that way, and will continue to take swift and robust action to investigate anyone whose behaviour falls short of those high standards."
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