Met officers admit sharing offensive messages about Harvey Price

The group is accused of sharing "inappropriate and discriminatory" images of Harvey Price, who has disabilities

Four former Met Police officers have admitted gross misconduct after being part of a WhatsApp group which shared sexist, racist and homophobic messages.

They are among a group of eight former and serving Met officers facing disciplinary proceedings over content shared in the group.

Offensive remarks were also posted in chats about people with disabilities, including Katie Price's son Harvey.

Six officers in the group, who were all based in Bexley, have now left the Met.

A misconduct hearing held in Fulham, west London, was told between 2016 and 2018, the group shared messages, memes and videos in what was described as a "toxic, abhorrent culture".

In some of the messages, sexual violence against women was applauded. In one conversation, an officer referred to a male police officer who "once got away with rape", as "a legend in my eyes", the panel heard.

In other messages, a sergeant, Luke Thomas, had made offensive comments about a junior female colleague, calling her "ugly" and referred to her as "it".

The hearing was also told he had suggested naming his dog either "Auschwitz", "Adolf" or "Fred" or "Ian" after "my two favourite child sex killers".

Mr Thomas, the most senior officer in the group, also made several posts about Ms Price's son Harvey, which included mocking his weight, the hearing heard.

Katie Price said she received a letter from the Met informing her of the misconduct proceedings

Mr Price has Prader-Willi syndrome and autism and is unable to control his weight.

The former sergeant, who left the force last week, and former officers Luke Allen and Lee South, admit gross misconduct for all allegations.

Former officer Carlo Francisco admits gross misconduct for the first allegation which relates to comments and posts made by officers in the WhatsApp group, and admits misconduct for the other two charges; one of which concerns the comments made about a female colleague and the third relates to failing to report the content.

Serving officer Glynn Rees and former officer Kelsey Buchan admit misconduct for all allegations.

Officer B denies the first allegation and admits misconduct for the second and third allegations.

Another former officer, Darren Jenner, has not engaged with the misconduct proceedings and the force has taken that to mean he did not admit either misconduct or gross misconduct.

Last week, Ms Price published a letter from the Met on her Instagram account, informing her a group of officers would face gross misconduct proceedings.

The hearing continues.

Additional reporting by PA News

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