Ex-police officer jailed for mocking Floyd death
Sickening racist images sent onWhatsapp to his friends
AFORMER police officer who sent a host of racist memes mocking the death of George Floyd on WhatsApp has been jailed.
James Watts, who worked for West Mercia Police force until resigning, posted images to his friends making references to not being able to breathe.
The 31-year-old from Clifton Road, Castle Bromwich also made crude jokes about genitalia.
He had previously admitted ten charges of sending grossly offensive messages. On Tuesday he was sentenced to 20 weeks.
In a highly unusual move Deputy Judge Tan Ikram, having heard the case at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court, announced he would pass sentence over the road at the Birmingham Crown Court annex building.
It meant Watts had to walk unceremoniously through the street in front of waiting photographers having covered up outside court for his previous appearance.
Judge Ikram said: “You undermined the confidence the public has in the police.
“Your behaviour brings the criminal justice system as a whole into disrepute. You are there to protect the public and enforce the law. But what you did was the complete opposite.”
Watts started sending the messages in June 2020 to members of his ‘Millionaire’s Rodders’ group.
They followed the death of George Floyd who was killed in American police custody after his neck was knelt on; igniting the Black Lives Matter movement around the world.
The defendant’s sick memes came to light after an Asian male in the group became concerned over the content.
Prosecutor Simon Brownsey stated at one stage he responded ‘easy Jim’ in an attempt to get him to stop, but Watts persisted in posting the memes.
The complainant ultimately left the group and then shared some of the messages on Twitter with the caption: “Former work colleague now serving police officer sent these in group chat. What hope is there in police in the UK sharing these?”
West Midlands Police contacted the account holder and established that Watts was a serving officer with the West Mercia force who had joined in September 2019 having previously worked at HMP Rye Hill as a prison guard.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) launched an investigation but Watts quit the force before it was ruled he would have been dismissed for gross misconduct.
Analysis of Watts’ phone revealed he had shared the racially abusive posts to multiple WhatsApp groups and over Facebook Messenger to his friends, family, former colleagues as well as five serving police officers.
Mr Brownsey said: “He provided a full account at interview. He admitted to having sent the images. He acknowledged they were inappropriate and explained he sent them into groups without any malicious intent. His intention was not to offend anybody.
“However he acknowledged as a police officer he was naïve to send the images in groups. He described his own actions as stupid and foolish.”
The prosecutor stated the messages had also had a severe impact on the mental health and confidence of the complainant. In a bizarre twist, the court heard the Crown Prosecution Service at one point decided not to charge Watts until the IOPC appealed the decision.
Peter Arnold, defending, stated Watts was remorseful and said others
speaking positively of him had never known him to act in a racist manner.
He said: “His foolishness and racism has cost him his job. He hasn’t stayed idle. He got work within months of resigning. He is married with a 17-month-old daughter.”
Judge Ikram described the message content as ‘grossly offensive’ and concluded they went beyond ‘stupidity and foolishness’.
He said: “You were a prison officer. I have no doubt you would have received training in relation to diversity and inclusion in that role. At the time of these offences, you were a police officer; a person who the public looks up to uphold the law. But you did the opposite.”
Judge Ikram dismissed the possibility of suspending the sentence adding: “A message must go out and that message can only go out through an immediate sentence if imprisonment.”
You undermined the confidence the public has in the police. Your behaviour brings the criminal justice system as a whole into disrepute.. Judge