In a WhatsApp group discussion with killer cop Wayne Couzens, three Metropolitan Police officers laughed about sexually abusing domestic violence victims, according to evidence shown in court.
They had made jokes about going on “pussy patrol” and called a section of west London a “f****** Somalian s*** hole” throughout the talk.
PC With the disgraced officer in 2019, Jonathan Cobban, 35, PC William Neville, 33, and ex-PC Joel Borders, 45, are all accused of posting “grossly insulting” content on WhatsApp.
For the kidnapping, rape, and murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard, Couzens, a former parliamentary and diplomatic protection officer, was given a complete life sentence last year.
The reportedly objectionable content was found by detectives looking into the matter on one of Couzens’ phones in a WhatsApp group.
The accused were all active police officers at one point, and occasionally they were on duty when the texts were received, according to prosecutor Edward Brown, QC.
Cobban and Borders sent the first communication on June 29, 2019, and it was between them.
Borders responds, “Oh John, in that case you’re probably f*****,” to another uncharged writer who writes, “Mate, they aren’t going to ditch you with your skills until you finger a DV [domestic violence] victim.”
That’s fine, Cobban writes. Victims of DV adore it. They frequently become repeat victims because of this, to which Borders responds, “No, they just don’t listen.
The following conversation also takes place between Cobban and Borders on the same day.
Cobban calls Hounslow in west London, where he commutes, “a f****** Somalian s*** hole,” and he continues, “Great, there goes my pussy patrol – more like FGM [female genital mutilation] patrol.”
Feltham is worse, in response from Borders. When I was there last week, I experienced a domino-like sensation.
A string of emojis picturing a white-faced man surrounded by “brown faces of varying shades” appeared after the message.
Neville and Cobban spoke about restraint of a 15-year-old girl later that year, in August.
“My first shift was as a third wheel, and the rest as an operator, with the first call being for immediate assistance,” Neville adds.
“Pinned” a 15-year-old girl who was acting out on the ground. I was aware that eventually I would benefit from all of my struggle cuddles.
Another conversation between Cobban and Borders is as follows: “[Cobban]: She’ll take care of you.”
[Borders]: Sneaky b****, she’ll use me as an example, lure me on, then lock me up after I rape and beat her.
The fifth and final accusation Cobban faces relates to communications made on August 7, 2019.
Cobban responds, “I bet they all had one thing in common – women that don’t listen,” after Neville says he had “three domestics back-to-back today.”
“This must be understood in the context of and in combination with a need to sustain public confidence in the police – in itself a compelling requirement, or at the very least, the background within which to assess the comments,” Mr. Brown said.
“Right thinking members of the public would be grossly offended,” the statement reads.
“Not just by the comments themselves, but also by the knowledge that it was serving police officers who discussed, among other serving police officers, their colleagues and the citizens they are supposed to serve in the terms used in these messages, often in an enthusiastic and encouraging manner with no dissent.”
Both Cobban and Borders, of Preston, Lancashire, deny five counts of communicating insulting material using a public communication network.
Neville, of Weybridge, Surrey, rejects two accusations that are similar.
The three individuals were first given anonymity by the Crown Prosecution Service due to “operational reasons.”
But after receiving objections from proponents of open justice, the CPS made the identities available to the general public.
The defendants, along with four other cops, belonged to a WhatsApp group called “Bottle and Stoppers/puppets,” Atkin’s according to Mr. Brown.
It should be mentioned that the correspondents occasionally messaged each other to ask for guidance and discuss work-related issues like training.
“It follows that these police officers were a close-knit group.”
Additionally, there is no proof that any of the defendants (or the other group members) “called out” or confronted any of their fellow defendants after receiving what the prosecution claims to be the insulting communications.
“The prosecution’s case is that each defendant was a police officer in active duty at the time, trained to serve and protect the people of a diverse city.
“There were not isolated occasions to which the co-correspondent felt unable to object in some way,” the author wrote.
Each defendant actively took part and decided to stay with the gang.
The message is menacing and aggressive in nature, we submit, Brown said, especially referring to Borders’ statement about raping and beating a female coworker with whom he was due to train.
It is victim-blaming and disrespectful to rape and sexual assault victims as well as to women in general, such as the term “sneaky b****.”
Brown then made the following statement in response to Cobban and Neville’s conversation about physically restraint a young girl: “This, by Neville (but then supported in its sentiments by Cobban) implied to any right-minded observer that Neville enjoyed the need, while on duty, to physically restrain a very vulnerable and disturbed 15-year-old girl because he got pleasure from, or at least drew upon his experience of…with a “struggle snuggle,” and we submit that
Cobban served as the Civil Nuclear Constabulary’s Race and Diversity Custodian on a volunteer basis in 2017, the court was informed.
According to Mr. Brown, the position needed expertise and comprehension.
In order to offer employees with protected characteristics social, moral, and professional assistance, Cobban registered with an equalities consultative support network.
In February 2019, all three men joined the Metropolitan Police Service.
The trial goes on.