Gwent Police officers face gross misconduct hearings over WhatsApps

Offensive messages were found on the phone of former Gwent Police officer Ricky Jones, who took his own life in 2020

Two serving and one former Gwent Police officers will face gross misconduct proceedings after an investigation into the sharing of offensive Whatsapp messages.

It comes after "derogatory" messages were found on the phone of former Gwent Police officer Ricky Jones, who took his own life in 2020.

The messages were found by Mr Jones' family.

Gwent Police said the hearings would take place as soon as possible.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct's (IOPC) investigation began in November 2022 after a referral from Gwent Police relating to the messages on Mr Jones' phone.

• Police horrified by racism claims, boss says

• Officer filmed striking man referred to CPS

• Policeman appeals after gross misconduct dismissal

The investigation ended in October 2023, and examined the conduct of seven serving and four former officers.

In a statement, the Jones family welcomed the IOPC investigation but said they were "very conscious that these investigations would not be happening at all had it not been for the evidence that we found, by chance".

They added: "The evidence that we discovered included horrific messages shared between Gwent Police officers that were homophobic, racist, misogynistic and laid bare a deep-rooted, toxic culture within the force.

"Whilst we are grateful that the investigation has exposed serving and former officers, we feel that more still needs to be done to eradicate officers who share their values."

The Jones family added that they felt it had been "incredibly difficult" to challenge Gwent Police.

The investigation carried out a digital forensic examination of Mr Jones' phone and obtained statements and conducted interviews with individual officers.

The IPOC said the two serving constables and one former constable had a case to answer for gross misconduct, for allegedly exchanging messages of a racist, misogynistic and homophobic nature.

In addition, the investigation found evidence that the same officers potentially failed to challenge or report inappropriate messages sent by colleagues.

• The IOPC investigated 11 officers in total, who at the start of their investigation included nine serving officers and two former officers

• It found a further four serving officers, up to inspector rank, had a case to answer at the level of misconduct

• Misconduct meetings took place in March 2024 where it was found that the allegations of misconduct were proven for three officers and they received a written warning. For the fourth officer, misconduct was not proven and they will take part in reflective practice

• There was no further action for two officers who resigned from the force while being investigated for misconduct

• Another former officer left the force several years before the start of the investigation, meaning there could not be a decision on a case to answer for them

• There was no further action against one serving officer after the IOPC withdrew its investigation following enquiries

Gwent Police said inappropriate behaviour had no place in the force

IOPC director David Ford said: "The content of some of the messages we examined raised serious concerns about the conduct of those police officers involved.

"We did not find any evidence to substantiate an allegation that Gwent Police tried to cover up inappropriate messages, which might have indicated corruption.

"The evidence showed that the searches police carried out on Ricky Jones' phone were reasonable and proportionate at the time."

The IOPC's decision has been shared Mr Jones' family.

Wiltshire Police is continuing to separately investigate complaints made by Mr Jones' family, which focus on Gwent Police's handling of its investigation into his death and the contact officers had with them.

Gwent Police Chief Constable Pam Kelly said she was shocked at the content of the WhatsApp messages when they were first reported in November 2022, and was determined to ensure that the behaviour was dealt with robustly.

She added: "We have been abundantly clear that we will not tolerate poor behaviour and this case should act as a stark warning of the consequences of inappropriate online behaviour."