Dorset police officers sent racist and offensive messages on Whats App group
A DORSET police officer has been sacked without notice after being found guilty of sending offensive messages on a WhatsApp group with colleagues.
A misconduct hearing found that PC Mark Philpotts had breached standards of professional behaviour by sending the discriminatory messages and failing to challenge messages sent by others.
Some of the comments on the WhatsApp group which came to light in 2022 were derogatory towards the travelling community and disabled people. There had also been a request for a photo taken of a police officer with a sex toy found at the home of a vulnerable person to be posted to the group.
At the hearing held at Dorset Police HQ in Winfrith, two of PC Philpotts’ colleagues, Sgt Kennie Wilson and PC Kate Trent, were also found guilty of misconduct.
Sgt Wilson, who was a police constable when the messages were sent in 2020, did not directly send any derogatory messages and questioned the conduct of others on the group before leaving it. But he did not escalate concerns, as he should have done.
PC Kate Trent was found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour and was handed a final written warning, which will last four years.
Former PCs Matthew Williamson and Daniel Moore, as well as former Acting Special Sergeant Timothy Borrill, had previously admitted gross misconduct outside of the hearing in relation to the matter.
The panel ruled they would all have been dismissed without notice had they still been serving. PC Williamson was the officer who had posed for a photo with the sex toy.
Sgt Borrill had asked for information in relation to an ongoing incident involving a person he knew to be shared with him without a proper policing purpose.
All officers will now be placed on the barred list to prevent them from rejoining the police in future.
Following the hearing, Deputy Chief Constable Rachel Farrell said: “I was very disappointed to hear about this behaviour involving a group of officers, who are expected to demonstrate high standards, and the varying outcomes of the panel reflects the seriousness of this.
“While these unacceptable messages were sent over four years ago, we remain resolute in continuing with our ongoing work to ensure we have a culture within the organisation where any conduct which is contrary to the Equality Act, the Code of Ethics and the Professional Standards of Behaviour, will not be tolerated and will result in serious consequences.
“We are committed to investigating any unethical or unacceptable behaviour relating to a member of our organisation and I would encourage members of the public to report any concerns to the force so they can be thoroughly investigated.”
