PC who sent offensive image guilty of gross misconduct

Swindon-based PC Andrew Sexton admitted sending the offensive image, which was stamped with the words “should have gone to Specsavers”, in a fit of frustration after being sent contradictory information during a high-pressure drugs operation last year. He had not intended to cause offence.

On Friday, a panel at Wiltshire Police’s Devizes headquarters found him guilty of gross misconduct. He received a final written warning, which will stay on his record for an extended five-year period.

He was also found guilty of misconduct for comments he’d made about Romanians, using the words “two black blokes” and saying “benders” in a team meeting.

However, he was cleared of an allegation he’d told colleagues “I think black people living in slums should be exterminated”.

Panel chairman Derek Marshall said: “There is no room in the police service for racists or homophobic views or behaviours.”

During the five-day hearing, the panel heard PC Sexton admitted sending an image of a white man trying to post a letter into the eye opening of a woman’s burqa with the caption “should have gone to Specsavers” on the picture.

He told the panel the picture was sent in a fit of frustration at being told contradictory information during a live police operation.

He was having to relay the information via email, as he was working from home during the early days of the pandemic and did not have his police radio. He had apologised immediately and referred the matter to his sergeant and an inspector responsible for diversity.

PC Sexton, an officer with Wiltshire Police since 1997 and now working on an elite squad at Gablecross police station responsible for gathering intelligence on drug gangs, said it had not occurred to him at the time that the image might be offensive: “The male in that [image] didn’t know his left hand from his right hand. He was confused.”

The officer was placed on a support plan in September 2019 requiring him not to use derogatory language in the workplace.

He said he agreed to go on the “informal action plan” because his sergeant told him he may be causing offence without realising it.

The officer, who had worked for the Australian federal police before moving to the UK, claimed he’d had an earlier meeting with another sergeant who informed him he was accused of saying he wanted to “drop a bomb on Africa”.

PC Sexton denied the allegation immediately, he said. “I believe I explained myself at the time that I said ‘drop a bomb on them’ because I’d watched Al Jazeera, because there was a think about [Nigeria-based Jihadist group] Boko Haram on the news. It talked about the girls that had been taken from their families by the terrorist group and I’d referred...to the terrorist organisation. That is, if you drop a bomb on them they won’t do it again.”

He was asked by his lawyer, Maria Brannan: “Did you ever make a comment about dropping a bomb on Africa, killing or exterminating black people?” “No,” he replied.

A civilian investigator said by Wiltshire Police to have witnessed the conversation told the panel he couldn’t be sure of hearing the comment.

PC Sexton also denied standing up in the office and shouting an offensive remark at the colleague who claimed he’d made the “exterminated” comment, adding he had once publicly praised her efforts on an investigation.

Asked why he’d agreed to the “informal action plan”, PC Sexton said: “It was put to me that someone in the office was upset about language that I may have used and therefore to prevent further upset I had to be mindful of my language.”

Further allegations were laid against the officer while he was subject to the “plan”, including that he used the phrase “black blokes” to refer to two alleged drug dealers that had been arrested as a result of a briefing to response officers.

File image of PC Sexton in 2012 Picture: ADVER

PC Sexton was said to have made an offensive remark about Romanians in the office. In paperwork sent to Wiltshire’s professional standards department, he appeared to admit to saying “I am sure Romania has many nice people in it but I have never met any of them so I associate that country with bulk shoplifters and criminals”.

He later rowed back from that statement, suggesting it was trying to put into context why Romania may have been mentioned in the conversation. “At the time I can only think I was looking at a custody computer,” he said.

During a team meeting in August 2020, he said in a discussion about joint working with another force “once we get an in, then they will know we are not benders”. He was rung immediately afterwards by his sergeant, who told him she wanted to speak about a comment he made. He identified the word and asked if it was homophobic. “She said yes. My world fell out at that point. I was a mess.”

He said he had never used the word before and had not used it as a homophobic slur. PC Sexton suggested it could have been a reference to “banana bender”, an Australian slang term for someone from Queensland and taken to mean a timewaster.

A colleague who gave evidence in support of PC Sexton and who had been in the meeting said that, while the word was offensive, it had not been used in that context and he had previously seen the officer speak out against homophobia. The civilian investigator described his colleague as a role model.

PC Sexton had swiftly apologised after the offensive nature of his comments were pointed out, the panel heard.

Mark Ley-Morgan, for Wiltshire Police, accused the officer of telling the panel a “pack of lies”. He said the conversation PC Sexton with the second sergeant was not recorded.

Quizzing him on the “black blokes” comment, the barrister asked: “Is it your evidence you would have said if they were white ‘I’m going to go down and speak to the officers who arrested those white guys last night’?” No, probably not, PC Sexton replied.

He pointed to discrepancies between the officer’s written statements and his evidence to the panel.

Mr Ley-Morgan later said the comments could result in serious reputational harm for Wiltshire Police.

He said: “What has been the key issue so far as policing is concerned all over the world in the last couple of weeks? How police treat ethnic minorities. It seems it is on the news any day. We’ve just had the anniversary [of George Floyd’s murder by a police officer]. It is there all the time. It was there all the time during the time these comments were being made.”

In her closing remarks, Maria Brannan, for PC Sexton, questioned the credibility of the woman who reported the alleged “extermination” comment and who had also made complaints against other team members.

She presented 11 character references to the panel in support of her client, who had also received four official commendations – including a Chief Constable’s commendation.

The panel found proved allegations that PC Sexton sent the offensive image, made the comments about Romanians, “black blokes”, and “benders”. He was found guilty of gross misconduct and misconduct.

He was given a final written warning and will be placed on a “support plan” for five years.

Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills

Following the hearing, Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills said: “Wiltshire Police is proud to be an inclusive and diverse organisation and it is very important that all our officers and staff feel confident to report anything that they feel is inappropriate, unfair or unlawful.

“As a Force, we remain committed to robustly and proportionately tackling inappropriate behaviour in the workplace and supporting those who report wrongdoing. I would like to pay testament to the bravery of those who raised concerns in relation to the actions of PC Sexton.”