Prince Harry with his wife Meghan Markle
Six former London police officers were sentenced to suspended prison terms on Thursday for sending insulting and racist messages on WhatsApp, which included allusions to Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and other members of the royal family.
Commander James Harman, who heads the Metropolitan Police’s Anti-Corruption and Abuse Command, stated after the sentencing hearing that the racist and discriminatory content of these messages is appalling.
Mr. Harman went on to say, “Given the defendants once served as police officers, we recognize that this case may further damage confidence in policing”.
The six retired officers were accused following an investigation through a News program which uncovered the men sent the text messages between August 2018 and September 2022, when they had all left the police force.
Three of the communications made disparaging remarks about Meghan Markle, the wife of King Charles’ youngest son, Prince Harry. Meghan’s mother is African-American and her father is Caucasian.
One of these notes also included a photograph of the late Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip, while others mentioned Charles’ eldest son and heir Prince William, and his wife Kate, as well as Rishi Sunak, Britain’s first prime minister of color.
In September, Five of the former cops, all in their 60s, pleaded guilty to sending offensive messages and were all sentenced on Thursday to between six and 14 weeks in prison, suspended for a year.
The five men had all worked in different departments of the police but had all served in the Diplomatic Protection Group, which had one former member convicted of murder and rape in the last two years and another jailed for carrying out 24 rapes and other sex assaults over two decades.
Michael Chadwell, 62, pleaded not guilty to one count of delivering an offensive message, but he was found guilty following a trial last month at the City of London Magistrates’ Court.
Chadwell was sentenced to 10 weeks in prison, suspended for a year.
The Metropolitan Police, the largest police force in the United Kingdom, has been troubled by many scandals in recent years, and an independent study in March concluded it was institutionally racist, misogynistic, and homophobic.
The chief of the Metropolitan Police, Mark Rowley, has committed to cleanse the organization of unfit persons among its more than 43,000 officers and employees.
Also read: January 6 Capitol Riot: Former US Cop Sentenced To More Than 11 Years In Prison
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