Cops deny sharing grossly offensive messages with Wayne Couzens
Two Met PCs and a former officer denied sharing racist and misogynistic messages with killer cop Wayne Couzens when they appeared in court.
PC Jonathan Cobban, 35, PC William Neville, 33, and ex-PC Joel Borders, 45, are all accused of sending grossly offensive material on WhatsApp to the officer during 2019.
Couzens, a former parliamentary and diplomatic protection officer, was given a whole life term last year for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard.
Detectives investigating the case discovered the allegedly grossly offensive material in a WhatsApp group stored on one of Couzens’ old phones.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) launched an investigation and sent a file to the Crown Prosecution Service last month.
Cobban, of Didcot, Oxfordshire, Neville, of Weybridge, Surrey, and Borders, of Preston, Lancs, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court accused of sending by public communication network an offensive, indecent, obscene, or menacing message.
Borders and Cobban both denied five charges while Neville denied two identical charges.
The alleged offences took place in April, June and August 2019.
Prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward said: ‘The evidence as currently served will largely be omitted, there is likely to be certain evidence from the officer in the case about the phrases used.
‘The fact that these officers undertook certain kinds of training is in the evidence, the content of the training course has been gathered as best as can be done.’
Senior District Judge Paul Goldspring asked: ‘So they should have known the content of the messages they were sending were grossly offensive – that’s the point of the evidence?’
Ms Ledward replied: ‘Exactly.’
Nicholas Yeo, defending, said: ‘The issues are, firstly whether or not the messages were grossly offensive and secondly whether the jokes were intended to be grossly offensive or whether they were not aware.’
Judge Goldspring said: ‘It’s a straight enough issue for the trial judge to determine whether the messages are grossly offensive.’
The three officers were initially afforded anonymity by the Crown Prosecution Service who claimed they were not being identified for ‘operational reasons’.
But following complaints from open justice campaigners, the CPS said it had been decided to put the names into the public domain.
The besuited defendants were granted unconditional bail ahead of a trial on July 28 and 29.
Judge Goldspring told them: ‘If you are not here I will continue in your absence and given that you’ve got something to say about the case… that’s not a good idea is it.’
