Three police officers have been suspended as a police watchdog investigation into offensive messages found on a dead police sergeant's phone is to be launched. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has announced its decision to independently investigate the conduct of several serving Gwent Police officers over allegations of sharing offensive messages.
The decision comes after messages on the phone of a deceased police sergeant were published earlier this month. The messages were shared with the Sunday Times by the family of Ricky Jones after they were discovered by his daughter following Mr Jones' death in January 2020. The messages publicised are of a "racist, misogynistic and homophobic nature and some alluded to potential corruption", the IOPC has said.
In an update by Gwent Police on Thursday, the force said it had suspended three officers in relation to allegations of misconduct, adding: "Our work to challenge any misconduct by serving officers continues."
