An external investigation has been launched into "abhorrent content" shared by Gwent Police officers that was found on an officer's phone after his death.
Gwent Police's Chief Constable Pam Kelly said that Wiltshire Police is conducting an independent investigation on behalf of the force into what she called a "toxic culture" after the messages were found which showed officers shared racist, sexist, and misogynistic messages. The messages were shared with the Sunday Times by the family of the dead officer.
In a statement to The Times, Ms Kelly said: "The content we have been made aware of is abhorrent and any officers identified by the investigation as having breached either professional standards or the criminal threshold will be held accountable. The content shared with us paints a picture of a toxic culture which does not represent the majority of our service. We have also made it clear that those who do not uphold these standards have no place in Gwent police — or in policing.”
A group of MPs who represent constituencies in the force area will meet with Ms Kelly and Police and Crime Commissioner Jeff Cuthbert on Monday.
The content was discovered on a phone belonging to a dead policeman, Ricky Jones, by his daughter following his death in January 2020. Messages on the phone show serving and retired officers discussing sexual harassment of junior female colleagues, making racist remarks, such as "The Great Muslim Bakeoff" when referring to Grenfell Tower, homophobic jibes and officers offering to illegally hide money.
The messages were shared with journalists at The Sunday Times who carried out an investigation into the force. The investigation also reported that female officers were dismissed after raising allegations of inappropriate sexual misconduct carried out by their colleagues. We have r eported on some of those issues here.
READ MORE: The vitally-important questions Welsh police force refuses to answer after top officers dismissed
The police force, which covers Newport and Gwent, has been at the centre of allegations about behaviour within its rank for a number of years. In September three senior members of Gwent Police were found to have committed behaviour amounting to gross misconduct. Former Gwent Police chief superintendent Mark Warrender was found to have committed gross misconduct by "inappropriate touching" while he and two senior colleagues were found to have held an "inappropriate conversation" with a more junior member of staff as a police social event and “failed to challenge and report” the alleged improper behaviour of others in that conversation.
Warrender and colleagues chief superintendent Mark Budden, who held the role of acting assistant chief constable, and chief inspector Paul Staniforth faced allegations of gross misconduct which they each denied. All officers have been barred from policing. Their disciplinary hearing was held in private with only basic details shared with the public despite the overwhelming public interest in s spotlight being thrown on the culture at the force. See more on that here.
The investigation published in the Sunday Times looked at messages between Ricky Jones, who had spent 26 years as a police officer before he retired, and unnamed colleagues. One exchange took place between Mr Jones and a retired sergeant, who has not been named. He is said to have messaged Mr Jones: "“He has been shagging on duty and it’s been recorded on his tetra (police radio) mate,” he wrote. “Didn’t he learn anything from me at all?? I thought I taught him well and how not to get caught.”
The same officer sent a picture of Grenfell Tower on fire, titled "The Great Muslim Bakeoff", and in May 2019, he sent a racist image about the new royal baby. In a Facebook messenger exchange between the two, the officer offers to help Mr Jones in hiding money from his wife if they divorced saying he had "done the same in the past for a Gwent police chief."
In December 2019, he said: "If you need to hide some money, I will look after it or open an account for you in my name if you want. I did it for (name of senior Gwent Police office)." This is classed as fraud and can be punishable by a prison sentence.
In a group chat involving a number of officers on Mr Jones phone, homophobic and racist "banter" between members was often exchanged. The same officer is said to have sent a message which said: “Overloaded your computer with gay porn did you mate?”
Another officer replied: “I don’t know why you keep sending it to me. I told you I’m not into all that.” The first officer then sent a meme of Mr Chow, an Asian character from The Hangover, which said: "So long, gay boys".
Exchanges in the group chat also included officers calling each other "poofs" and "PC closet." One of the members in the Whatsapp group referred to Asian people as "slopes".
Nazir Afzal, an advisor to the Welsh Government on violence against women, has been supporting the family of the dead former officer. He wrote on Twitter: “Issues of racism, misogyny and bigotry in policing is a national one that damages public confidence and police morale. Time for a national inquiry to root it out once and for all.”
Ruth Jones, MP for Newport West, told BBC Wales: "Misogyny, racism, abuse, corruption, these are all things that must be investigated thoroughly and quickly. We all have constituents that are concerned about this issue. We want a full investigation. No stone left unturned."
In 2019, two women spoke to WalesOnline of the abuse they faced at the hands of PC Clarke Joslyn. They also spoke about how the force "closed ranks to protect him and allowed the abuse to continue." In 2018, a misconduct hearing found that he was domineering, controlling and physically abusive to women. It found he would have been dismissed from the force had he not already resigned. The Sunday Times Investigation found that Mr Jones shared regular messages with Mr Josyln.
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