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Three police officers have been suspended following allegations of sharing misogynistic, racist and homophobic messages.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has begun an investigation after WhatsApp and Facebook messages were discovered on the phone of a deceased Gwent Police officer.

According to revelations first published by The Sunday Times, 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.

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.

Speaking to Sky News, his widow Sharon and daughter Emma, whose names have been changed, said more needed to be done to help those who feel unable to report domestic abuse.

“I was trapped,” said Sharon.

“Wherever and whenever I went to any organisation, they would just always refer me back to the police.”

The family felt unable to go to the police because of Jones’ links to the force.

The IOPC said Wiltshire Police is currently investigating complaints from the family about Gwent Police’s handling of its investigation into Jones’ death and officers’ contact with them.

The family wants a new organisation set up to help people facing domestic abuse from serving officers.

The police watchdog has also requested further information from Gwent Police about former officers who are reported to have shared messages to establish whether they can be included in its investigation.

IOPC Director for Wales, Catrin Evans, said: “I recognise that many people will find the messages aired in the public domain, apparently shared among police officers, highly disturbing.

“After publication of the national newspaper article, we formally wrote to the Chief Constable of Gwent Police requesting they provide us with information to establish the chain of events and decisions taken in relation to the family’s complaints, and any conduct matters. We had not previously received a referral from the force on any of these matters.

“On the basis of our assessment of the conduct referrals received so far, we have decided that an independent investigation is essential to maintain public confidence

“We will be investigating the alleged involvement of a number of serving Gwent Police officers in sharing offensive messages. We will keep the involvement of any further serving and former officers under review as more information comes to light. We will need to progress a full download of data from the phone of Mr Ricky Jones. I would ask for patience while we undertake our enquiries as swiftly and thoroughly as possible.”

The IOPC said it had received a referral from Gwent Police on November 15, concerning the family’s complaint and received three conduct referrals, on November 18, 19 and 23, relating to several serving and former officers identified as being involved in the phone messages.

In a statement, Gwent Police confirmed it had suspended three officers and said it was committed to working with the IOPC “to ensure a full and transparent process to tackle any unacceptable behaviour by officers.”