George Floyd: Torquay police officer cleared of sharing meme

Sgt Geraint Jones was cleared on the grounds the prosecution failed to prove the image was not sent as a joke

A policeman has been found not guilty of sharing a "grossly offensive" meme related to the death of George Floyd.

Sgt Geraint Jones of Devon and Cornwall Police was off duty when he forwarded an altered image of Mr Floyd's fatal arrest in May 2020.

It went to a private WhatsApp group that included other officers.

The judge at Plymouth Magistrates' Court cleared him on the grounds the prosecution failed to prove the image was not "intended as a joke".

Sgt Jones was charged with sending an offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing image via a public electronic communications network, contrary to the Communications Act 2003.

White officer Derek Chauvin was convicted on Tuesday of murdering Mr Floyd, an African-American, after kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes on 25 May 2020.

Sgt Jones accepted sharing the image with the group, but denied knowing that it "was liable to cause gross offence to those to whom it relates, namely the black and minority ethnic community", District Judge Jo Matson said.

She acknowledged the majority of people would have found the image "disgusting and grossly offensive" but said the prosecution "have not made me sure it was not intended as a joke by Mr Jones."

Sgt Jones, 47, from Torquay, Devon, told the court previously he "deeply regretted" his actions, and called it a "clumsy attempt at humour".

One of the WhatsApp group members complained to a senior officer and Devon and Cornwall Police's professional standards department about the image Sgt Jones forwarded.

Sgt Jones has been a police officer for 23 years and was based in the custody centre at Torquay.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct, who conducted an investigation into Sgt Jones and referred the matter to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider criminal charges, has also advised Devon and Cornwall Police he should face a disciplinary charge of gross misconduct.

A spokesperson said: "It will be for the police disciplinary process to determine whether the case against Sergeant Jones is proven and, if so, what the appropriate sanction is."

Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed Sgt Jones remains suspended from the force.

Temporary assistant chief constable Steve Parker said "while the court has found Sgt Jones not guilty, this matter remains subject to an internal disciplinary process".