In a group chat, Pc Sukhdev Jeer and Pc Paul Hefford, who worked in a unit at Bethnal Green police station in east London, posted inappropriate, highly offensive and discriminatory content on WhatsApp in 2018.
They also failed to challenge and/or report the members of the group after receiving the offensive messages.
The pair were dismissed from the police service for gross misconduct after their actions were labelled “abhorrent and discriminatory”.
The Metropolitan Police officers were sacked over discriminatory WhatsApp messages, including a racist joke about the Duchess of Sussex. Picture: PA
“Golliwog” toy messages “discriminatory and serious in nature”
The hearing at the Empress State Building, in west London, heard the posts, including one comparing Meghan to a “golliwog” toy, were “discriminatory and serious in nature”.
Messages from former officer Richard Hammond, who was also in the group, were regarded as misconduct by the tribunal panel.
Chairman Maurice Cohen said the panel came to the decision having assessed the seriousness of the behaviour, the culpability and the harm the messages caused.
He said: “Dismissal is the only appropriate action”.
It means the men, whose actions were labelled “completely unacceptable” by the Met, cannot be employed by other police bodies across the UK.
Mr Cohen slammed the posts as “highly corrosive and discriminatory” to members of the public “including those in the local community” they served.
He had earlier said: “The postings in this group caused serious reputational damage to the Metropolitan Police as a whole.”
He added: “They were mocking and discriminatory to many sections of society the Metropolitan Police force was meant to be policing.
“Bethnal Green is an extremely diverse area.”
Mr Cohen said the posts took place “over an extended period of time” and that the officers “should have been aware” of their “unacceptable nature”.
He added: “(They) should have been aware these posts were overtly racist, ableist and sexist.”
Discriminatory messages sent by Met Police officers
Pc Sukhdev Jeer and Pc Paul Hefford were dismissed from the Met Police over ‘abhorrent and discriminatory’ Meghan Markle jokes. Picture: PA
Pc Jeer, described as the “most active contributing member”, posted a series of “highly discriminatory and offensive” pictures and…
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