Officers who sent each other alleged jokes about rape, domestic violence, disabled people, Muslims and racial minorities were just having “humorous banter”, a court has been told.
Three current and former Metropolitan Police constables gave evidence to their trial over messages in a WhatsApp group containing Wayne Couzens, after a judge threw out a defence application to dismiss the charges.
Jonathan Cobban, 35, William Neville, 34, and Joel Borders, 45, admit writing the posts but deny that they amount to a criminal offence by being “grossly offensive”.
PC Cobban told Westminster Magistrates’ Court: “These messages were sent on a private, secured WhatsApp group and I had no expectation they could or would be read by anyone outside that group.”
The defendant said that, as former officers who guarded sensitive sites for the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, the group had a “dark sense of humour”.
“I meant them to be taken as humorous banter and nothing more,” he added.
PC Cobban suggested the case had been misreported by the media and the public would not be offended if they “knew what was meant” by the messages.
“I think the way we are being portrayed for some messages of dark humour is horrendous,” he added.
Mr Borders, who has left the Metropolitan Police and is now a close protection officer, said the case had “got out of hand”.
Addressing a female prosecutor, he added: “It’s absolutely ridiculous. You’re trying to criminalise innocent police officers. You’ve got two really good police officers in there who are probably going to lose their jobs over this, just because you take exception to certain jokes.
“People get offended by everything. You need to stop this grossly offensive thing because it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Mr Borders was questioned about a message in which he wrote of a named female police officer: “She will use me as an example. Lead me on then get me locked up when I rape and beat her! Sneaky b****.”
He responded: “I was saying she was the type of person who would make a false allegation. Rape and beat should have been in quote marks.
“It’s an exaggerated way of saying she is not to be trusted; she’s the sort of person who is really underhand and devious.”
On a different occasion, Mr Borders wrote that he could not wait to “shoot some c***s in the face” with a police firearm.
The officer told the court the message was “clearly a joke”, adding: “It’s blatantly obvious. I don’t know why this is even here. It’s ridiculous.”
Mr Borders said he was “really bothered” by the thought of upsetting the public, adding: “I’ll help people cross the road; I’ll open doors for people because that’s the kind of person I am.”
He added: “When you tell a joke you’re not laughing at the subject of the joke, you’re laughing at the joke.”
The court was shown chats appearing to joke about police performing sex acts on domestic violence victims, with PC Cobban writing: “That's alright, DV victims love it... that’s why they are repeat victims more often than not.”
When asked about the message in court, the officer said it was “quite obviously sarcastic”.
At another point, PC Cobban and PC Neville appeared to joke about the prospect of leaving Muslims to die in a terrorist bombing, while PC Cobban described a racially diverse area of London as a “s***hole” and PC Neville said he “felt like a spot on a domino”.
Both officers denied that their posts were racist and said they enjoyed the capital’s diversity.
In August 2019, PC Cobban described an incident in which he had to look after a person who needed hospital treatment after self-harming as an “attention seeking, self-harming f*g”.
He denied targeting the gay community with the comment and said his use of the slur was “un-targeted derogatory name calling”.
PC Cobban and PC Neville also talked about “struggle snuggles” after PC Neville described pinning a 15-year-old girl to the floor during an incident.
Prosecutors argued that the exchange suggested lawful restraint could be used “as an excuse or cover for non-consensual physical or sexual contact with a detained person”.
But the defendants and two police witnesses said “struggle snuggle” was police slang for a form of lawful restraint likened to a bear hug and had no sexual connotation.
PC Neville admitted that he used the phrase while recounting an incident involving a 15-year-old girl, but said his response was proportionate and appropriate because she had assaulted a police officer and was “violent and angry”.
“She was extremely thin and her wrists were very thin so I had to hug her to get her arms to her sides,” he told the court.
PC Neville said remarks appearing to suggest that all Muslims were terrorists were “satire” and “taking the mick out of people who would make that link”.
He added: “It’s shock humour, controversy, satire; it’s a joke, it’s dark humour.”
The court heard that chats from 2019 included posts discussing rape, domestic abuse and violence against women.
They were discovered in a WhatsApp group called “Bottle and Stoppers/Atkin’s Puppets” after Couzens was arrested for kidnapping, raping and murdering Sarah Everard in March 2021.
PC Cobban said the group contained seven officers who moved from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary to the Metropolitan Police at around the same time, and was “initially created to talk about our transferee process”.
Prosecutor Edward Brown QC previously told the court: “Right-thinking members of the public would be grossly offended not just by the comments themselves but to know that it was serving police officers who discussed, among other serving police officers, their colleagues and the citizens they are supposed to serve in the terms used in these messages, often in an enthusiastic and encouraging manner with no dissent.”
PC Cobban and Mr Borders are charged with five counts of sending grossly offensive messages, while PC Neville is accused of two counts of the same offence.
PC Cobban and PC Neville remain in the Metropolitan Police, while Mr Borders has since left the police.
The trial has been adjourned until 21 September, when closing submissions will be made at City of London Magistrates’ Court.
