Met officers charged over ‘grossly offensive’ WhatsApps with Wayne Couzens identified
21 February 2022, 13:14 | Updated: 21 February 2022, 13:39
Two Metropolitan Police officers and a former officer charged for allegedly sharing grossly offensive messages with Sarah Everard’s killer Wayne Couzens have been named.
Prosecutors identified Pc Jonathan Cobban, Pc William Neville and ex-constable Joel Borders in their investigation.
Rosemary Ainslie, Head of the CPS Special Crime Division, said: “Following a referral of evidence by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the CPS has authorised charges against two serving Metropolitan Police officers and one former officer.
“PC Jonathon Cobban, 35, PC William Neville, 33, and former officer Joel Borders, 45, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 16 March for their first hearing.
“Each of the three defendants has been charged with sending grossly offensive messages on a public communications network. The alleged offences took place on a WhatsApp group chat."
Cobban and Borders have both been charged with five counts of sending grossly offensive messages on a public communications network contrary to S127 of the Communications Act 2003.
Neville has been charged with two counts of sending grossly offensive messages on a public communications network contrary to S127 of the Communications Act 2003.
In a statement, the Independent Office for Police Conduct said: "We can now name two serving Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers and one former MPS officer who are to appear in court charged in connection with an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation into the sending and sharing of inappropriate messages on WhatsApp.
"Police constable (Pc) Jonathon Cobban, aged 35, and former constable Joel Borders, 45, are both charged with five counts of sending grossly offensive messages on a public communications network contrary to section 127 of the Communications Act 2003.
"Pc William Neville, 33, is charged with two counts of the same offence.
"The offences are alleged to have occurred variously between April and August 2019.
"They will make a first appearance before Westminster Magistrates' Court on March 16.
"The IOPC's investigation began following a referral from the MPS in April last year (2021) and was completed in December when we referred a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
"The CPS has taken the decision to authorise charges against the officers."
