PC sent 9/11 sexual innuendos and racist text

The Suffolk Constabulary emblem on the side of a police carImage source, Suffolk Police
Image caption,

Andrew Bedding was previously a constable with Suffolk Police

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A former police officer who sent a racist message and made derogatory references to the 9/11 terror attacks would have been sacked had he not already left the force, a misconduct panel found

Andrew Bedding, formerly of Essex Police, used discriminatory and misogynistic language in a series of texts while working for Suffolk Police between 2022 and 2025.

The ex-police constable was also found to have "recklessly" disclosed personal data from the Police National Computer and disrespected his colleagues.

After a misconduct hearing, which he did not attend, he was found to have committed gross misconduct and told he would have been dismissed if he was still serving.

'Misogynistic'

The panel heard how Mr Bedding sent information concerning the whereabouts of a suspect and the details of people on a police database to a member of the public.

On a separate occasion he also sent a message in which partial details about a Suffolk Police vehicle with automatic number plate recognition capability were included.

Mr Bedding told the recipient to "avoid" and "be careful" if they came across it as "it picks up MOT / insurance etc and pings every time".

He also sent disrespectful messages and images of colleagues and described the domestic abuse team as "the most work-shy, slow and painful team to deal with".

The former officer used sexual innuendos about September 11 terror attacks while making "misogynistic" comments about a female member of the public.

And he also sent a text message with a screenshot of a Twitter post that included a racial comment about women of Indian heritage.

Mr Bedding is said to have shown "genuine remorse" and expressed "how truly sorry he is" for how his actions had portrayed Suffolk Police.

Assistant chief constable Nicholas Davison, who chaired the hearing, said: "I find the officer's conduct was intentional and deliberate.

"I consider culpability high and harm to be high and my determination is the former officer's conduct is so serious as to justify dismissal and I find gross misconduct."

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