A UK police officer has been cleared of criminal charges after sharing a WhatsApp picture of George Floyd being knelt on by a porn star.
The verdict came just a day after former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin was found guilty of all charges over George Floyd's death.
Chauvin was convicted of murder after kneeling on the unarmed black man's neck during his arrest last May in a case that prompted protests that spilled from the United States around the world.
Devon and Cornwall police officer Sergeant Geraint Jones, 47, was accused of sending a 'grossly offensive' image in the form of an internet 'meme' of Floyd for a "cheap laugh" a court heard.
The photoshopped picture featured a large, naked black man sat on Floyd’s back.
But a district judge today found Jones, a former custody sergeant, not guilty of the charge contrary to the Communications Act 2003.
The judge said although the majority of people would find it "disgusting and grossly offensive" - the prosecution had failed to prove it was not intended as a joke.
The meme sent by Jones featured porn star Wardy Joubert III, who has been the subject of a popular Internet meme circulated on social media since 2012.
Jones admitted sharing the image to a WhatsApp group with a number of his police colleagues on May 30 last year.
But he denied the charge as he did not believe the image was “grossly offensive."
He was found not guilty on Wednesday after a trial at Plymouth Magistrates Court.
District Judge Jo Matson told him: "Although I, and the majority of people would find the image Mr Jones sent disgusting and grossly offensive, particularly given the timing of when it was sent and from a serving police officer to other police officers and, although I have found the image to be grossly offensive to the black and minority ethnic community, I find that the prosecution have not proved beyond reasonable doubt the mental element required for a conviction for this offence.
"They have not made me sure it was not intended as a joke by Mr Jones.
"I accept that Mr Jones was not aware of, or recognised, the risk, at the time, that the image was liable to cause gross offence to those to whom it relates.
"And I accept he was not aware of or recognised the risk that it may create fear or apprehension in any reasonable member of the public who were to read or see it.
"I therefore find Mr Jones not guilty of this offence and dismiss the charge against him.
"Mr Jones you’re free to go."
The initial probe was sparked after one of the recipients complained to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
Jones previously told Plymouth Magistrates Court he shared the meme with colleagues in a WhatsApp group as a “humorous” and “lighthearted” response to the conversation.
The IOPC decided it was of a “grossly offensive” nature - and the charge was sent to the CPS.
But Jones, who has worked for Devon and Cornwall Police for over 23 years, said during his trial: “The meme relates to Mr Joubert. It is a Wardy Joubert meme, it is not a George Floyd meme.
“The nature of the meme is that it is surreal. It is absurd.
“I simply saw it as the latest incarnation of this funny meme that shows up in various ridiculous locations.
''I guess I was just after a cheap laugh and trying to raise a smile, I didn’t think about it deeply and didn’t look at the image in any great detail."
Jones denied the charge as he argued he did not believe the image to be of a “grossly offensive” nature.
He added: “I don’t consider image to be grossly offensive, no matter who looks at it.
“I appreciate that the wider image is vulgar, I appreciate it is not in good taste.
“But I have looked in more detail at what is classed as grossly offensive, and I think the bar is set pretty high.
“It is deliberately set high because it ties in with freedom of expression, so as not to catch people like me who have shared a joke in bad taste.
“We don’t want to run the risk of criminalising tens of thousands of people who have also shared this content in just bad taste."
Jones told the IOPC during interview that he had been aware of the broad circumstances surrounding Floyd’s death – but that he had not read too much into it.
“I know it is no excuse, but I was on a period of annual leave, I had had a few drinks, and it was a clumsy attempt at humour" he said.
“I had not seen the sad footage of Mr Floyd’s death – maybe if I had seen it and had followed more closely I would not have shared the image.
“A lot of people did not realise what was coming down the line with the Black Lives Matter protests all over Britain – it blindsided me.
“Obviously, now, looking at the events that followed, the image takes on a different meaning and significance that I did not realise at the time.
“But I can assure you there was nothing sinister meant by it – nothing political, racial, or provocative on my part."
