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Met Police: Ex-officers admit sending racist WhatsApp messages

PA Media File image of New Scotland Yard.PA Media
The men had all left the Metropolitan Police by 2015

Five former Met Police officers have admitted sending racist messages on WhatsApp, following a BBC Newsnight investigation.

The men pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates' Court to sending grossly offensive racist messages, including about the Duchess of Sussex.

Other messages referenced the Prince and Princess of Wales, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

The communications were sent between September 2020 and 2022.

According to the charges, the five men also made reference to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, former Home Secretary Priti Patel and former Health Secretary Sajid Javid.

The men served in various parts of the Met Police but all spent time in the Diplomatic Protection Group. The five, who retired between 2001 and 2015, were charged under the Communications Act 2003.

The ex-officers are:

  • Peter Booth, 66, of Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, who pleaded guilty to four counts of sending by public communication grossly offensive racist messages. He retired from the Met in April 2001
  • Robert Lewis, 62, of Camberley, Surrey. He admitted eight counts of the same offence. He retired from the Met in May 2015 and became a Home Office official before he was dismissed for gross misconduct last November, according to the government department
  • Anthony Elsom, 67, of Bournemouth, who pleaded guilty to three counts. He retired from the Met in May 2012
  • Alan Hall, 65, of Stowmarket, Suffolk, also entered guilty pleas to three counts. He retired from the Met in June 2015
  • Trevor Lewton, 65, of Swansea, pleaded guilty to one count. He retired from the Met in August 2009

Another former Met officer, Michael Chadwell, denied one count of sending by public communication grossly offensive racist messages. He retired from the Met in November 2015.

The 62-year-old, from Liss, Hampshire, will stand trial on 6 November at City of London Magistrates' Court.

The other officers will be sentenced on the same day and at the same court at the conclusion of his trial. All six have been granted unconditional bail.

The charges came after a BBC Newsnight investigation in October that prompted a probe by the Met's Directorate of Professional Standards.

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