Katie Price has spoken out after eight serving and former Metropolitan Police officers were found guilty of ‘gross misconduct’ for sending ‘discriminatory and disrespectful’ communications, including some mocking her crippled son.
The police, seven men and one woman, were discovered to have made sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, and ableist insults in the WhatsApp group ‘Secret Squirrel S**t’ between May 17, 2016 and June 26, 2018.
During the fifth day of the hearing on Thursday (April 13), legal chairman Christopher McKay defined gross misconduct as a “breach of the standards of professional behaviour that is so serious as to justify dismissal.”
He determined that each former and current officer had committed gross misconduct in their own communications, as well as by ‘failing to confront or report’ the behaviour of others in the group.
Former sergeant Luke Thomas, former acting sergeant Luke Allen, former Pc Kelsey Buchan, former Pc Carlo Francisco, former Pc Lee South, former Pc Darren Jenner, Pc Glynn Rees, and Officer B, who has requested anonymity, were all present at the hearing.
Former beauty model Katie, 44, appeared on 5 News with her son Harvey to discuss the subject for the first time since the verdict.
Harvey, Katie’s eldest kid, has Prader-Willi syndrome, a hereditary disorder that causes obesity, and Septo-Optic Dysplasia, which impairs sight and brain development.
The ruling has left the mother-of-five “absolutely overjoyed.”
‘It’s about time justice has been done,’ she said.
‘Not only that they are professionals that we trust, that we should trust who have done this… and now an example is going to be put out there and something is going to be done.’
She added: ‘What I’ve actually seen and read what these police officers have said it’s beyond like beyond what you could ever imagine how evil and how spiteful people can actually be, and how they even think it’s funny. It’s actually disgusting… Harvey doesn’t deserve this, no one does.’
When Katie questioned how he felt when people were mean to him, Harvey said, ‘Angry and sad.’
Katie also stated during the interview that she hopes the police officers ‘feel humiliated’ and ’embarrassed’.
‘I hope they’re embarrassed to know what their family are going through and I hope… all their names and their mug shots come out because I would like to see their faces and they should be named and shamed.’
The reality star also hopes they will ‘never serve’ as officers again.
‘And if they ever get any other job that it goes on their CV because I’ll tell you what, there won’t be a lot of people who want to employ them after this. Would you want to employ someone when you know they do stuff like this? Because I know I wouldn’t. So it will affect them for the rest of their life. And I hope it does because they deserve that, they’re disgusting.’
Prior to the verdict, Katie also spoke out about the messages and said: ‘These are the people who are supposed to be protecting us, people we are supposed to trust.
‘It’s pure betrayal, I was in shock at first, then I felt sick, heartbroken and angry.
‘It’s not enough for these people to just lose their jobs if found guilty, if this has happened to a vulnerable adult like Harvey, it will be happening to others.’
She added to The Sunday Mirror: ‘I can stick up for myself. When it comes to my son, it’s different.
‘Harvey is so vulnerable, so innocent. He doesn’t have a bad bone in his body – all he wants is to love people and be happy. He doesn’t deserve this from anyone.’
The star also claimed at the time that her other children, Junior, 17, and Princess, 15, whom she shares with Peter Andre, are ‘furious’ about it and have been asked about it at school.
