Six former Metropolitan police officers have been charged over sending racist messages in a WhatsApp group.

The former officers have been identified as Robert Lewis, Michael Chadwell, Trevor Lewton, Alan Hall, Peter Booth, and Anthony Elsom. They have been accused of sending “grossly offensive racist messages” by public communication. They have been charged with 20 counts in total and will be appearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on September 7.

Following a coverage by the BBC’s Newsnight program in October last year, an investigation was launched into the conduct of all the six officers by the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards. According to Daily Mail, the first arrest was made within hours of the allegations being relayed by the BBC to the police department and the investigations have have been ongoing since then.

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Who are the six officers charged over sending racist messages?

All of the six police officers charged in this case are above 60 years of age at the moment. All of them retired between 2001 and 2015. The alleged inappropriate communications were shared between August 2018 and September 2022.

The following is a list of charges brought against the accused:

• Peter Booth, 66, of Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire has been charged with four counts.
• Robert Lewis, 62, of Camberley, Surrey has been charged with eight counts.
• Anthony Elsom, 67, of Bournemouth, Dorset has been charged with three counts.
• Alan Hall, 65, of Stowmarket, Suffolk has been charged with three counts.
• Michael Chadwell, 62, of Liss, Hampshire has been charged with one count.
• Trevor Lewton, 65, of Swansea has been charged with one count.

Although all six of them served in various divisions of the Met throughout their careers, all of them were involved at some point during their respective careers in the Diplomatic Protection Group, which is presently known as the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command. Others made a mockery about flooding in Pakistan, which left almost 1,700 people dead. There were also those which featured pictures of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle alongside racist language.

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The BBC, which hasn’t published the messages because of the racist language reported that some of the posts referenced the government’s Rwanda policy.

“As soon as we were made aware of these allegations we acted to launch an investigation. I am please that following the determined work of officers, we have been able to secure these charges,” said Commander James Harman, who is currently leading Met’s Anti-Corruption and Abuse Command. “We are working relentlessly to rebuild the trust of the public which has understandably been dented by a number of high profile incidents and investigations in recent years which have involved officers or former officers.”