West Mercia Police officer cleared over sending offensive WhatsApp messages

A West Mercia Police officer has been cleared of sending offensive messages after a judge found prosecutors failed to bring charges in time.

Pc Joann Jinks, 41, was facing trial at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday 23 August.

But deputy chief magistrate Tan Ikram formally found her not guilty of three charges of sending a grossly offensive message by a public communication network following legal argument. 

The court heard the Crown Prosecution Service made a decision to take no further action against Jinks, from Redditch, on June 14 last year.

However, following a review of the evidence after the involvement of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), prosecutors decided she should be charged on October 18 last year, although a postal requisition was not sent until the end of March this year.

Mr Ikram found the requisition had not been made in accordance with the rules, adding: "The defendant cannot be tried on these three charges."

Jinks' co-defendant, ex-Pc James Watts, 31, was previously jailed for 20 weeks after admitting ten counts of sending a grossly offensive or menacing message by a public communication network.

Birmingham Magistrates' Court heard he posted racist WhatsApp memes mocking the death of George Floyd in a group chat while serving with West Mercia Police in 2020.