West Mercia Police officer joked about 'blacking up' and 'torturing' colleague

The second West Mercia Police officer sacked by the force this month for misconduct over the messages was not named because of an anonymity order.

The gross misconduct hearing on Tuesday upheld allegations that the officer, known as Officer X, had conversations with Telford-based Sergeant Jak Walshaw, aged 49, who was sacked after a separate hearing last week for sending images of a racist, homophobic and sexual nature.

The hearing heard that Officer X also sent racist images and memes on the social media platform over an eight-month period.

One of these racist messages referenced the death of George Floyd while another said he was going to "black up" to help his chances with the force’s promotion board.

The officer, whose identity has been protected by an anonymity order enforced by the West Mercia Police misconduct panel, argued that the messages were "misunderstood and taken out of context".

Part of their conversation involved discussing "torturing" a female colleague and the unnamed officer said he would carry out a sexual act to her. It was accepted that there was no intention for the pair to carry out the violence.

The panel concluded that the messages sent by the unnamed officer were serious enough for the officer to be sacked without notice and added to the Barred list.

“The public in our view would be greatly concerned and troubled by the racist and sometimes violent content of the messages sent,” said legally qualified chair Wendy Evans.

“The police endeavour to maintain and rebuild trust and confidence with the public. Public trust would be eroded if they were aware of the content of some of this images and language used.”

The messages came to light after Sergeant Walshaw was investigated for an unrelated matter.

Sergeant Walshaw was also subject to an anonymity order which was lifted after representation from a solicitor acting on behalf of West Mercia Police and the press.

Representations were also made to overturn the anonymity order protecting the unnamed officer – who was found to have sent racist messages.

Barney Branston, representing the police force, asked the hearing to lift the order in light of the misconduct panel’s findings.

Mr Branston argued that revealing the officer’s identity would help to deter other officers from similar behaviour and also to help public confidence in the force. The press also made representations that the order should be lifted due to the significant public interest in the case and to maintain open justice.

However, detective inspector Lesley Williams, representing the officer, argued that the anonymity order should remain in place due to implications on his family.

Mrs Williams had said previously in the hearing that the officer had been suffering from significant ‘ill-health’ and had shown ‘genuine remorse’ for the messages.

The misconduct panel concluded that the anonymity order will remain in place due to the impact on the officer who was described as a ‘particularly vulnerable person’ and his family.