Five police officers are facing disciplinary action over messages shared on social media about Sarah Everard’s killer, Wayne Couzens.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said two officers from the Metropolitan Police and one from each of the forces in Sussex, Dorset and Avon and Somerset are subject to misconduct proceedings.
Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens is serving a whole-life sentence after kidnapping, raping and murdering 33-year-old Ms Everard earlier this year.
The killing sparked a national conversation about both male violence against women and police culture, spurring investigations into several forces.
IOPC regional director Sal Naseem said: ‘The allegations involved in these two investigations, if proven, have the capacity to further undermine public confidence in policing.
‘They also once more illustrate the potential consequences for officers and come at a time when policing standards and culture have never been more firmly in the spotlight.’
One constable, from the Met, who helped search for Ms Everard after she was reported missing allegedly sent an ‘inappropriate graphic, depicting violence against women’ to colleagues while off-duty.
The watchdog said the image was ‘highly offensive’.
Another constable, from the same force, will also have to attend a misconduct meeting for ‘allegedly sharing the graphic and failing to challenge it’.
The IOPC had investigated a third Met officer but decided he should ‘undergo reflective practice’ instead of disciplinary action.
This is because, although he did not report the image, he thought it was inappropriate and shared it with two people to ask for advice on what to do about it.
A separate investigation looked into allegations that seven cops from other forces used the encrypted messaging app Signal to illegally share information about Couzens’ case.
A Dorset officer will face a gross misconduct hearing for apparently posting details of Couzens’ police interview before any of it was in the public domain.
The IOPC said: ‘We concluded that the officer had a case to answer for gross misconduct after we looked at whether the messages, had they got into the public domain, would have brought discredit on the police service and potentially interfered with the course of justice.
‘We also considered whether there was a legitimate policing purpose in sharing the information.’
Other cops then ‘joined in the conversation, endorsing comments made by others and making unprofessional remarks about Couzens’.
One of these officers, from the Avon and Somerset force, will answer misconduct charges for this.
Lastly, a Sussex cop will also be forced to ‘undergo reflective practice’ for messages sent during a conversation of a specific ‘tone’.
The IOPC is also still looking into how Kent Police in 2015, and the Met this year, handled allegations of indecent exposure which have been linked to Couzens.
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