Police officer cleared of sending a 'grossly offensive' image of George Floyd
A Devon and Cornwall Police sergeant was today cleared of sending a 'grossly offensive' image of George Floyd - which he'd claimed was humorous - but remains suspended pending an internal investigation.
47 year old Sergeant Geraint Jones, who worked for Devon & Cornwall Police, admitted to forwarding a doctored What's App image - just five days after Mr Floyd's death.
Today the judge ruled while the image was grossly offensive, she did not believe he'd intended to cause serious offence when he forwarded it.
Sergeant Geraint Jones, 47, of Rawlyn Road, Torquay, admits sending the image to the group on May 30 last year.
Plymouth Magistrates’ Court heard the officer forwarded the meme to a group of eight others, including six serving police officers, after being sent it by a friend.
The meme featured Mr Floyd’s arrest in Minneapolis in the US on May 25, with an image of American man Wardy Joubert III naked superimposed on it.
Two members of the WhatsApp group replied with laughing emojis but one member complained about the image, causing the matter to be referred to Devon and Cornwall Police’s professional standards department.
Jones, a custody sergeant in Torquay who had served with the police for 23 years, deleted the image and apologised for sending it.
He was charged with sending a grossly offensive image, contrary to the Communications Act 2003, following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
The officer denies the charge and stood trial at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court.
Giving evidence, Jones said memes – such as the image of Bernie Sanders wearing mittens during the inauguration of US President Joe Biden – were designed to be “humorous”.
He described how the image of Mr Joubert had featured in many other memes, including scenes showing former US president Donald Trump and the late Captain Sir Tom Moore.
“I knew that meme was going viral at the time and they had seen it in various shapes and forms,” Jones told the court.
“I saw the comedy of it because I found the character amusing and where he turns up.
“Maybe I was after a cheap laugh or trying to raise a smile. I didn’t think about it deeply and I didn’t look at the image in detail.”
Jones said the issue of whether the image had a racial angle “never even entered my mind”.
He told the court “hundreds of thousands” of people had sent similar messages on WhatsApp and could face being investigated for a criminal offence for sharing something they believed to be humorous.
“I never envisioned that I would end up in court,” Jones said.
“When I’ve told people that I know about why I’m going to court, they instinctively reach for their phone.
“What is humorous to one can be offensive to another. I think that is part and parcel of humour, and part and parcel of WhatsApp.
“We would end up with the law prescribing what is funny. It would be the ministry of humour.
“I know that there must be tens of thousands of people who have shared it thinking it’s humorous, probably hundreds of thousands.
“We don’t want to run the risk of criminalising all those people.”
Jones told the court the bar for breaking the law in such circumstances was set “pretty high” so it did not infringe on a person’s right to freedom of expression.
“I think if I get convicted then the bar will be moved down,” he said.
Jones said he had apologised for sending the image and no longer used WhatsApp.
“It was foolish and I regret my actions and I wouldn’t have wanted to upset anyone,” he told the court.
Prosecuting, Lee Bainbridge highlighted that Jones had sent the image less than a week after Mr Floyd’s death.
“The prosecution case is that such an image, sent at the time that it was, was liable to cause gross offence, namely to those in the black and ethnic minority community,” Mr Bainbridge said.
Representing Jones, Jamas Hodivala QC provided 54 pages of character references for his client.
He described the defendant as a “caring family man” and a “diligent” and professional police officer.
Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Steve Parker said: “While the court has found Sgt Jones not guilty, this matter remains subject to an internal disciplinary process.
“Sgt Jones currently remains suspended while this process remains ongoing.
“Devon & Cornwall Police values equality and diversity enormously and we have an expectation of all of our staff to not only mirror this but act as advocates in our communities to support this ethos.
“We are aware of the concerns resulting from this incident and subsequent investigation. Since the matter came to light, we have taken an open and honest approach to engaging with our diverse communities. We will continue to do so following this verdict, and I would like to reassure everyone that Devon & Cornwall Police will address and learn from the issues raised in the IOPC recommendations.”
IOPC regional director Catrin Evans said: “At the end of our investigation we submitted our report to the CPS as in our view there was an indication that a criminal offence had been committed. A district judge has now determined the officer’s actions did not amount to a criminal offence. We also shared our report, which found the officer has a disciplinary case to answer for gross misconduct, with Devon and Cornwall Police. It will now be for the force to take forward disciplinary action.
“Criminal and disciplinary proceedings serve two different purposes. One is to determine whether someone has broken the law, and the other to determine whether an officer has breached police standards of professional behaviour. It will be for the police disciplinary process to determine whether the case against Sergeant Jones is proven and, if so, what the appropriate sanction is.”
In respect of other serving officers among the group, we found no case to answer for misconduct. However, Devon and Cornwall Police agreed with our view that the performance of two individuals did fall short of expectations. A detention officer, who could not be shown to have viewed the entire image, has received informal management action from the force over their response to the message, and a sergeant is subject to reflective practice procedures for not reporting the matter straight away.
The force has since acted on recommendations made by the IOPC to strongly remind custody staff and the wider force of their expected behaviour under the police Code of Ethics and the Equality Act, and that they are duty bound to challenge and report inappropriate behaviour by any colleague. The force also agreed with our recommendation to take steps to ensure that all staff comply with national police guidance about posting comments or images on social media.
Our learning recommendations were:
• The IOPC recommends that Devon and Cornwall Police take steps to ensure all officers and staff within Torquay Custody suite and the wider organisation conform to the expectations of their behaviour under the Code of Ethics, whilst on and off duty, and promote a safe and open culture, which makes clear to officers and staff that they are duty bound to challenge and report behaviour that does not align with this Code.
• The IOPC recommends that Devon and Cornwall Police take steps to ensure all officers and staff within Torquay Custody suite and the wider organisation conform to the expectations of their behaviour under section 26 of the Equality Act 2010, whilst on and off duty, and promote a safe and open culture which makes clear to officers and staff that they are duty bound to challenge and report behaviour that does not align with this Act.
• The IOPC recommends that Devon and Cornwall Police take steps to ensure all officers and staff within Torquay Custody suite and the wider organisation are complying with the Association of Chief Police Officers’ Guidelines on the Safe use of the Internet and Social Media by Police Officers and Police Staff 2013. They should also make clear to officers and staff that WhatsApp and other instant messaging platforms are considered forms of social media.