Police officers found guilty of sharing grossly offensive WhatsApp messages

22 Sep 2022 12:53 PM

Two police officers have been found guilty of sending grossly offensive messages on a WhatsApp group.

PC Jonathon Cobban, 35, and former officer Joel Borders, 45, were both found guilty by City of London Magistrates’ Court yesterday and will be sentenced on 2 November 2022. A third defendant was found not guilty of all charges.

Rosemary Ainslie, head of the CPS Special Crime Division, yesterday said:

“It is incomprehensible that serving police officers could think it was right to share these kinds of grossly offensive messages with others.

“By these verdicts, the court has agreed that they were not just shocking or disturbing banter, but they amounted to criminal offences.

“Where there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to do so, the CPS will always prosecute these offences robustly.”

The prosecution followed an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

Notes to Editors

• Joel Borders [6/10/1976] was found guilty of 5 separate offences of sending grossly offensive messages on a public communications network contrary to S127 of the Communications Act 2003.
• Jonathon Cobban [8/1/1987] was found guilty of 3 separate offences of sending grossly offensive messages on a public communications network contrary to S127 of the Communications Act 2003.
• The CPS Special Crime Division deals with the most complex and sensitive cases in England and Wales including disasters, serious criminal allegations against police officers, corporate manslaughter and election offences.