11 current and former Gwent Police officers under investigation over offensive messages

Eleven current and former Gwent Police officers are under investigation after misogynistic, racist and homophobic messages were found on a phone belonging to an ex-sergeant after his death.

According to revelations first published by The Sunday Times last year, the messages were exchanged between 41 serving and retired Gwent Police officers.

As well as being offensive in nature, the messages also alluded to police corruption and contained pornography.

The phone belonged to ex-sergeant Ricky Jones, who took his own life in January 2020.

His family came forward with the phone after suffering years of controlling behaviour from him.

The family felt unable to go to the police because of Jones’ links to the force and instead took their concerns to The Sunday Times.

In November last year, Gwent Police suspended four serving officers and following the revelations the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) launched an investigation.

Caerphilly Observer has asked Gwent Police if these four officers are among the 11 currently under IOPC investigation.

In a statement, the IOPC said it had analysed “a considerable volume of data” downloaded from Jones’ phone before serving gross misconduct notices on two current, and two former, police officers.

It has also issued a misconduct notice to a serving officer.

These notices are to inform officers their conduct is being investigated, but does not necessarily mean any disciplinary charges are coming.

Meanwhile, a further four Gwent Police officers, including three who are currently serving and a former officer were also given misconduct notices. The IOPC said these officers were involved in the WhatsApp group and “failed to challenge or report inappropriate messages sent by colleagues”.

The IOPC also confirmed two serving officers are under criminal investigation for allegedly disclosing police information to Jones after he had left the force. These officers are not being investigated over the offensive messages, but have been served with gross misconduct notices.

“Enquiries will take some time”

IOPC Director David Ford said: “The officers who are subject to investigation range from police constable to inspecting ranks. We will keep the involvement of any other officers under review as any further information comes to light.

“We are also investigating when Gwent Police became aware of Ricky Jones’ family’s concerns about the messages and what steps the force took to explore them.”

He continued: “We will progress the investigation as swiftly as possible, but given the number of officers and the non-recent nature of the alleged conduct, enquiries will take some time.”

A separate investigation, led by Wiltshire Police, is looking into complaints from Jones’ family, relating to Gwent Police’s handling of its investigation into his death and officers’ contact with his relatives.

“Inappropriate behaviour has no place in this force”

Gwent Police deputy chief constable Rachel Williams said: “It is important that these matters receive a full and thorough investigation in a timely way, and we will continue to work with both the IOPC and Wiltshire Police to support this. 

“We are absolutely clear with both our colleagues and communities that inappropriate behaviour has no place in this force and we remain resolute in our commitment to root our such behaviours.”

She added: “I hope that the speed and scale of this investigation will give the public confidence around the commitment in policing to tackle unacceptable behaviours.”