6 retired British policemen have been handed suspended sentences Thursday for sending offensive and racist messages in a WhatsApp group. The messages made reference to Meghan Markle and others.
All but one of the former London police officers, who are all in their 60s, pleaded guilty in September to sending out offensive messages. The 6th, 62-year-old Michael Chadwell, pleaded innocent to a count of sending out an offensive message but was convicted after a trial last month.
Chadwell was sentenced to 10 weeks’ jail time, suspended for 12 months, while the others were given sentences of between 6 and 14 weeks’ jail time, also suspended for 12 months.
The men, who had all served in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection command, were charged after a BBC investigation brought the messages to light. All of the messages were sent between 2020 and 2022, a period in which the men were already retired.
The messages included three racist messages about Prince Harry’s wife, the Duchess of Sussex, as well as comments about Prince William, Kate Middleton, and Rishi Sunak, the U.K.’s first prime minister of color.
Chief James Harman, the Metropolitan Police’s Anti-Corruption and Abuse Command lead, said in a statement after the sentencing that the “the racist and prejudiced nature of these messages is absolutely appalling.” “Given the defendants once served as officers, we recognize that this case could further damage confidence in policing,” Harman said.
