Five West Yorkshire Police officers sacked over offensive WhatsApp messages

Five West Yorkshire Police officers have been sacked over what the force called "inappropriate, offensive and derogatory" messages in a WhatsApp group.

A gross misconduct hearing was told the posts included pictures from the scene of a sudden death, misogynistic and transphobic comments, as well as inappropriate comments about suicide.

There were also messages about sexual harassment and images of missing people and those who had been arrested.

In addition to the five officers dismissed, the panel ruled a further three officers would have also been sacked had they not already resigned.

All eight - PC Luke Riddett, Ex-PC Tom Harrison, PC X (who is subject of an anonymity order), PS Mark Otter, PC Javaid Habeeb, Ex-PC Matthew Harrison, PC Dominique Hawkins and Ex-PC Lee Hillyard - will now be added to the College of Policing’s Barred List preventing them from being employed in policing.

Detective Chief Superintendent Tanya Wilkins said: "This misconduct hearing looked not only at the actions of this group but also their inaction. The lack of challenge and complicity of a supervisor being involved in these conversations has allowed a culture of routine misogyny, casual racism and bullying to develop within this team.

"We make clear to all employees of West Yorkshire Police the standards we expect of them both on and off duty and have a specific policy in place around the use of social media, which includes WhatsApp. The messages that were looked at as part of this investigation were mean-spirited and not representative of the inclusive culture we seek to foster in West Yorkshire Police."

She added that the force will be using the case to remind all officers, staff and volunteers of the "appropriate use of social media".

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