Ex-cop’s warning ignored by bosses

A DECORATED former Met Police detective wrote to Cressida Dick to warn of a “vulgar and sexist” WhatsApp group like that used by Wayne Couzens – but got no reply.

Ex-Det Supt Paige Kimberley had an offer of a new job withdrawn after alerting her manager to offensive messages she had seen.

She says she also raised the alarm in a letter to Met Commissioner Dame Cressida in March, shortly after the rape and murder of Sarah Everard, to urge a review of “how inappropriate behaviour is addressed amongst contract workers”.

An internal investigation in 2019 took no action against the male officers, saying the messages were “distasteful” but did not amount to criminality or misconduct.

But an employment tribunal has now ruled they were “sexualised, derogatory towards women, offensive and completely inappropriate for any workplace”.

They said withdrawing the job offer from Ms Kimberley had amounted to “victimisation”.

The ruling comes as it emerged five officers are being investigated in a separate case for “misogynistic, racist and homophobic” WhatsApp messages shared with Couzens months before he killed Sarah.

Screenshots of messages seen by Ms Kimberley, 59, were shown to London Employment Tribunal.

One officer sent a meme of scantily-clad women with a caption referring to “slags”, while another sent an image of female genitalia.

Other messages referred to porn, colleague’s genitals and sex acts.

Another said it had “all started to go downhill” thanks to “treating the victim with priority”.

Ms Kimberley, from Dawlish, Devon, spent 32 years in the police – receiving seven commendations.

She joined the work-related WhatsApp group while in a contract role as an Implementation Manager and remained in it after leaving. The offensive content began later.

Speaking after the ruling, she said: “I wrote to everybody – the IOPC, Commissioner Dick. Everything got stonewalled.

“Somebody [like Couzens] will gradually push the boundaries to see what they can get away with.”