By Charlotte Webster-
An officer who posted offensive pornographic, misogynistic racist messages on WhatsApp resigned from the force before a misconduct hearing could take place would have ben dismissed had he remained in the force, according a misconduct hearing.
One of his colleagues who was found guilty of gross misconduct after posting “inappropriate and offensive messages” on a WhatsApp group was dismissed without notice.
The resigned officer had posted sexual, pornographic, misogynistic, homophobic, racist, bullying, abusive, offensive and inappropriate messages on the group and bullied colleagues, escaping any punitive action while he was in the force.
The resignation before punitive measures demonstrates the protracted nature of misconduct and disciplinary hearings in the force.
PC Mark Jordan-Gill and former officer Paul Perdrisat were found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour following a public misconduct hearing earlier this month. The panel reconvened on Tuesday (June 13) and delivered the sanctions. Both officers will be placed on the College of Policing barred list.
The misconduct hearing heard that allegations were received by the force’s Professional Standards Department in July and August 2022 about alleged incidents of bullying and discriminatory conduct by the officers, who were serving at the time with the Force Support Group (FSG) in Bournemouth.
The panel ruled that the contents of the WhatsApp group contained “sexual, pornographic, misogynistic, homophobic, racist, bullying, abusive, offensive and inappropriate messages”, but found insufficient evidence of the officers making verbal racist or homophobic comments in the presence of other officers. It also did not find evidence that wall art, which was alleged to have been placed in the office but was never recovered, was offensive.
The panel found that PC Jordan-Gill did post inappropriate and offensive messages on the WhatsApp group and did not leave the group even though he was more than likely aware of the offensive and inappropriate images and messages being posted.
It also found that Mr Perdrisat was a “major contributor” of the offensive messages and images that were found to be racist, misogynistic, homophobic and offensive.
Inspector Nicholas Mantle, who was also found guilty of gross misconduct, will return on a future date for the panel to determine the sanction.
Serving officers PC Michael Lowther and PC Matthew Young were found guilty of misconduct. PC Lowther, who challenged the behaviour on the WhatsApp group and left the group, was handed a written warning and PC Young was issued with a final written warning. He admitted failing to challenge the other officers but had extremely limited participation in the group.
Following the hearing Deputy Chief Constable Sam de Reya, Dorset Police’s lead for professional standards, said: “The public quite rightly expect the highest standards of behaviour from serving police officers and staff as this is a core component of maintaining the trust of our communities.
“I am disappointed and appalled, as would any member of the public be, that former officer Paul Perdrisat would have shared images of a racist, misogynistic, homophobic and offensive nature.
“Dorset Police is here to serve and protect our communities and it is the expectation that our people should reflect the very best of society. PC Jordan-Gill and former officer Paul Perdrisat failed to adhere to these high standards and they have let us all down. It is absolutely right they are no longer able to work in policing.
“Any behaviour demonstrating traits of prejudice/negative bias against a person will simply not be tolerated in our organisation and, as this case has demonstrated, we will swiftly and robustly investigate any offences reported to us.
“Dorset Police is an organisation that respects equality, diversity and inclusion and expects this to be a critical value of all its staff. There is no place for any kind of hate behaviour within our force and any member of staff failing to uphold the highest standards of behaviour, on or off duty, will be subject to investigation and, if appropriate, will no longer be a part of the force.
“I would like to remind our communities that this behaviour is not indicative of the overwhelming majority of our staff and teams out delivering quality policing every day to protect the public and make Dorset a safe county for everyone.
“We are committed to investigating any unethical or unacceptable behaviour relating to a member of our organisation and I would encourage you to report them to the force so they can be thoroughly investigated.”