Ex-Hertfordshire police officers blacklisted for vile WhatsApp group that shared bestiality porn and rape jokes

Two would have been sacked if they had not already quit – and a third officer was sacked without notice
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Two former Hertfordshire Police officers have been barred from work in policing in the UK after being found for gross misconduct.

A misconduct hearing found that PCs Charles Phipps and Robert Goldstone had used vile sexist and racist terms in a WhattsApp group over two years.

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The men had also made jokes about sexual violence, used discriminatory slurs and had shared images of bestiality.

The officers had used discriminatory slurs and made rape jokes.The officers had used discriminatory slurs and made rape jokes.
The officers had used discriminatory slurs and made rape jokes.

Phipps, who in 2013 trained to become a Lesbian and Gay Liaison Officer, had used homophobic language in the messages between Goldstone and a third officer.

A newly published misconduct document from the hearing on May 31 said that the officers' behaviour "would significantly risk undermining public confidence in policing" if it were made public.

The document stated that Phipps’s use of discriminatory language within these messages “has not been accidental, it has been intended and has been done repeatedly”.

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Charlie Hall, the chief constable of Hertfordshire Police, said: “[The] messaging also includes misogynistic comments and a failure to challenge similar comments by others.”

He added: "These are of national concern presently, especially since the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer."

Neither Phipps nor Goldstone attended their hearings.

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Both men would have been dismissed without notice, according to the misconduct document, but the two men had already left the force.

A third officer from Hertfordshire Police was separately sacked without notice for sharing jokes about rape.

PC Mark Williams sent 12 messages using derogatory terms.

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Chief constable Charlie Hall said in a misconduct hearing document that these messages would have had an effect on the Hertfordshire Constabulary as a whole.

Mr Hall said: “His messaging also includes misogynistic comments, most notably an appalling comment about being out raping."

He added: "I have considered lesser sanctions first, but in this case believe that these would be insufficient and leave me unable to justify why I can have complete confidence that an officer who has repeatedly used such discriminatory words can be trusted to act fairly and impartially with all sections of the public.”

Williams was dismissed without notice and barred from policing.