Five ex-Met Police officers admit sending ‘grossly offensive’ WhatsApp messages about Meghan Markle and Rishi Sunak
FIVE former Met Police officers have pleaded guilty for sending a string of “grossly offensive” racist WhatsApp messages.
The messages included vile jibes about Rishi Sunak, Meghan Markle and Queen Elizabeth II.
Peter Booth, 66, Robert Lewis, 62, Anthony Elsom, 67, Alan Hall, 65, and Trevor Lewton, 65, admitted criminal offences over the contents of the “Old Boys Beer Meet” chat.
Lewis, who worked at the Home Office after retiring from the Met in 2015, pleaded guilty to eight counts of sending racist WhatsApps.
He sent slurs aimed at black people, Romanians, the Chinese, and Muslims.
The ex-copper also shared a photo of Rishi Sunak, Priti Patel and Sajid Javid under a mocked-up racist street sign.
Elsom admitted three charges for a fake racist image of Kate Middleton.
And Booth pleaded guilty to four charges of a similar nature relating to the late Queen and Prince Philip.
Lewton admitted one count, while Hall pleaded guilty to three counts including a slur aimed at the Duchess of Sussex’s race.
A sixth ex-Met officer, Michael Chadwell, 62, denied a similar charge against him, he is expected to stand trial at a later date.
All the charges – heard at Westminster Magistrates’ court on Thursday – relate to messages sent between September 2020 and September 2022.
The ex-officers left The Met between 2001 and 2015.
They had all been members of the Diplomatic Protection Group, tasked with guarding high-profile individuals, Scotland Yard said.