A MISCONDUCT hearing has heard how a group of ex-nuclear officers would have been dismissed after sharing or 'failing to challenge' hundreds of racist and pornographic messages over WhatsApp.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) revealed the extent of the six former Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) officers' misconduct, stating that former PCs Adam Rothery, Andrew Smith, Fraser Dove, Ryan Hancock, Benjamin Kirk and Stephen Moss would have been dismissed if they hadn't already resigned.

Mr Rothery, Mr Moss and Mr Smith were working at Sellafield at the time. Mr Hancock was initially posted to Sellafield, then later transferred to Hartlepool.

The messages were revealed as part of an investigation into an unrelated matter and referred to the IOPC, resulting in investigators analysing over 1,400 messages while the officers involved were on duty – between June 2020 and February 2021.

More than 100 of these made reference to protected characteristics, including race, gender, religion and disability.

Of the messages, one by PC Benjamin Kirk compared the ‘humane killing’ of an animal with the death of George Floyd.

The hearing also heard how “hundreds of messages were of a pornographic nature”, as well as derogatory messages including one that “used vulgar slang for female genitalia to refer to a group of women at the beach”.

One message also included a video of “an Arabic male parachuting edited to infer he was responsible for a factory being blown up”.

IOPC regional director Catherine Bates said the messages shared in the WhatsApp group - named ‘Band of Brothers’ - have ‘absolutely no place in civilised society’.

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“The appalling judgement shown by these officers, in sharing and failing to challenge such messages, is complete betrayal of the trust placed in the police by the public,” she said.

“But to stamp out this sort of behaviour fully, colleagues must be able to feel confident in calling it out, knowing they will be supported and action taken.

"We know this issue is not limited to any single force and leaders across policing must continue to work towards a culture of zero tolerance for these kinds of attitudes. Investigations like this one are an important step in the right direction.”

Former PC Benjamin Kirk was working for Avon and Somerset Police at the time the allegations came to light, and a separate misconduct hearing was held for him in August. 

A seventh officer, who was also part of the WhatsApp group, would have faced disciplinary hearings but their resignation from the CNC before the allegations came to light meant that this could not happen.

Chief Constable Simon Chesterman said: “The behaviour of these former officers fell well short of the standards expected of CNC officers and staff.

"As soon as these grossly offensive messages were found, the CNC promptly notified the Independent Office for Police Conduct who began an investigation.

“The CNC fully accepts the findings of the misconduct tribunal; these former officers have no place in the police service.

“The only positive to come from this is that it demonstrates our determination to rid policing of this kind of behaviour and rebuild public trust.

"As I have always said, we will not tolerate misogynistic, racist, ableist or any sort of discriminatory behaviour. Those shown to have participated in this type of conduct cannot expect to remain as a member of the police service.

“Across CNC we are working hard to restore public trust and confidence in policing, encouraging our officers and staff to be upstanders and report discrimination, and we will continue to challenge any behaviour that falls short of our values and standards.”