Merseyside Police said racist language used by a former officer was "appalling".
Samantha Simpson, would have been dismissed from the force without notice had she still been serving, after a misconduct hearing found she had breached the standards of professional behaviour by sending racist WhatsApp messages. Simpson, who also plays outside backs for the Warrington Wolves, has now been placed on the College of Policing Barred List.
A spokesperson for Merseyside Police confirmed the hearing, chaired by Chief Constable Serena Kennedy, breached standards of professional behaviour in relation to Discreditable Conduct and Authority, and Respect and Courtesy. It was proven that former Constable Simpson had repeatedly used a derogatory term when referring to a person’s ethnicity.
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The hearing found Simpson breached police conduct regulations on multiple occasions between July 2019 to January 2022. Most of the breaches were in the form of WhatsApp message, where Simpson repeatedly used a racial slur.
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."
A further 11 occasions of Simpson using the slur were also identified and detailed in the hearing. The former constable had been part of Merseyside police since July 2017, during which she took an oath to accord equal respects to all people.
Merseyside Police said the hearing concluded that the breach amounted to gross misconduct and the former officer, who resigned before the date of the hearing, would have been dismissed from the force without notice if she had still been serving.
She will now be placed on the College of Policing’s barred list. Chief Superintendent Jennifer Wilson, head of the force’s professional standards department, said the language used by Simpson was "appalling".
Chief Supt Wilson 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.”
