Ex-officers rapped for 'appalling' racist messages

A group of ex-nuclear officers shared hundreds of "appalling" racist, misogynistic and ableist WhatsApp messages, a misconduct hearing heard.

Adam Rothery, Stephen Moss, Andrew Smith, Ryan Hancock, Fraser Dove and Benjamin Kirk sent the messages in a chat group called Band of Brothers, between June 2020 and February 2021, while working for the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC).

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said one message compared the "humane" killing of an animal by Mr Kirk to the death of George Floyd - a black man killed by a white police officer in the US.

IOPC regional director Catherine Bates said the messages had "absolutely no place in civilised society".

The Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) is the armed police force in charge of protecting civil nuclear sites and nuclear materials in England and Scotland.

The watchdog said it had analysed more than 1,400 messages, many sent while the officers were on duty.

They included hundreds that were "pornographic in nature" and others that were "derogatory, demeaning and or objectifying to women".

Offensive videos included one of an "Arabic male parachuting, edited to infer he was responsible for a factory being blown up," said the IOPC.

One showed an industrial incident in which a man was pulled from a machine, and another showed the wreckage of a helicopter crash.

Ms Bates said: "The appalling judgement shown by these officers, in sharing and failing to challenge such messages, is complete betrayal of the trust placed in the police by the public."

She added such issues were not "limited to a single force" and police leaders "must continue to work towards a culture of zero tolerance".

Mr Rothery, Mr Moss and Mr Smith were based at the Sellafield nuclear site in Seascale, Cumbria, while Mr Hancock was initially posted there and then transferred to a site in Hartlepool, Teesside.

Mr Dove was based at Sizewell, Suffolk, and later became a Strategic Escort Group officer, whose role involves protecting nuclear material in transit.

They were all subject to a misconduct hearing held in London last week.

Mr Kirk had transferred to Avon and Somerset Police by the time the allegations were referred to the IOPC in 2022, and his hearing was held separately by the force he worked for.

All former officers were found to have committed gross misconduct and they would have been dismissed, had they not already resigned, the IOPC said.

Mr Kirk was also barred from working in policing in future.

CNC's Chief Constable Simon Chesterman said the force "fully accepts" the findings of the misconduct tribunal and the former officers had "no place" in policing.

He added: "Across CNC we are working hard to restore public trust and confidence in policing, encouraging our officers and staff to be upstanders and report discrimination, and we will continue to challenge any behaviour that falls short of our values and standards."

A seventh officer would also have faced disciplinary hearings, the IOPC said, however they had already resigned from CNC when the allegations came to light.

Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].