Three Gwent police officers suspended over racist and homophobic message claims

Three Gwent police officers have been suspended after a watchdog launched an investigation into claims of racism, misogyny and homophobia.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has begun an investigation into several serving Gwent Police officers after messages from a phone owned by former Sergeant Ricky Jones were leaked to the Sunday Times.

The handset, belonging to the now deceased ex-officer, was found to contain offensive message exchanges between him and former colleagues.

The newspaper said racist images, pornographic videos and sensitive information about misconduct and corruption investigations were among the material exchanged.

A week later, further allegations about Gwent Police officers exchanging naked images of a female footballer were revealed by the publication.

The IOPC said it had requested further information from Gwent Police in relation to the alleged involvement of former officers in the sharing of messages who could be included in the investigation.

A separate investigation into complaints from the family of Sgt Jones related to Gwent Police's handling of its investigation into his death, and officers' contact with his relatives, will continue to be managed by Wiltshire Police.

The IOPC added that the family will have the right to bring the case to the watchdog if they are not satisfied with the outcome of that investigation.

As part of their probe, the IOPC will be looking at whether allegations about the phone messages should have been referred to them at an earlier stage.

Catrin Evans, IOPC director for Wales, said: "I recognise that many people will find the messages aired in the public domain, apparently shared among police officers, highly disturbing.

"After publication of the national newspaper article, we formally wrote to the Chief Constable of Gwent Police requesting they provide us with information to establish the chain of events and decisions taken in relation to the family's complaints, and any conduct matters. We had not previously received a referral from the force on any of these matters.

"On the basis of our assessment of the conduct referrals received so far, we have decided that an independent investigation is essential to maintain public confidence.

"We will be investigating the alleged involvement of a number of serving Gwent Police officers in sharing offensive messages.

"We will keep the involvement of any further serving and former officers under review as more information comes to light.

"We will need to progress a full download of data from the phone of Mr Ricky Jones. I would ask for patience while we undertake our enquiries as swiftly and thoroughly as possible."

A Gwent Police spokesman said the force was co-operating with the IOPC's investigation.

"The IOPC has today confirmed its role in investigating the conduct of serving officers following referrals from Gwent Police," a spokesperson said.

"We are committed to working with them to ensure a full and transparent process to tackle any unacceptable behaviour by officers.

"We have suspended three officers in relation to allegations of misconduct.

"Following allegations published in The Sunday Times on November 13 and 20 we have worked to identify the officers involved and to take appropriate action.

"Our work to challenge any misconduct by serving officers continues."

In their first report, the Sunday Times described highly offensive messages being exchanged between officers about Grenfell Tower, muslims and women.

Officers made homophobic comments like calling one another "PC closet" while another group member used an offensive word to describe Asian people, according to the publication.

At the time, Gwent Police's Chief Constable Pam Kelly said the views presented by the messages "have absolutely no place in" the police.

She described the messages as “vile” and portraying a "toxic culture" that is not representative of the force.

A week later the newspaper published further misconduct allegations against the police force.

The Sunday Times reported that Gwent Police officers swapped naked images of a female footballer and joked about 'sex pests' in the force.