Cleveland PC guilty of gross misconduct over offensive tweets
A Cleveland PC who tweeted abuse about celebrities and has been found guilty of gross misconduct.
A Cleveland PC who tweeted abuse about celebrities and has been found guilty of gross misconduct.
Pc Graham Wise admitted sending some of the offensive messages from the canteen of Cleveland Police's headquarters while he was on breaks, a disciplinary hearing was told.
He made comments about a series of celebs including Daniella Westbrook, Gemma Collins and tennis player Nick Kyrgios.
The officer had previously worked in Stockton and had policed the Tilery estate where Benefits Street was filmed.
Asked by the panel chairman Gerry Sydenham if he was on breaks at the force HQ when he sent the tweets, Pc Wise replied: I will have either been in the canteen or the kitchen next door.''
Asa Anderson, counsel for the police, said that although Pc Wise told investigators he thought only his 170 followers could see his tweets, he used hashtags, and they were all accessible by the public.
Mr Sydenham said in his judgment it was a sustained, repeated and very serious disregard of professional standards of behaviour expected by police officers'' and the comments were egregious''.
An investigation was launched after an email, possibly sent from someone using a pseudonym, accused Pc Wise of sending tweets of an abusive, sexist or derogatory nature to sports personalities, TV stars and victims of crime.
Pc Wise told investigators he had been absolutely stupid''.
At the time of the investigation, Pc Wise was working in a role at police headquarters dealing with calls from the public and assessing whether they warranted uniformed officers to attend.
The panel has adjourned to consider what sanction he should face and will return later.