Met Police officers shared “grossly offensive” messages with Sarah Everard’s killer, a court hears.
Image source, PA MediaThree police officers shared “grossly offensive” Whatsapp messages about women and disabled people with Sarah Everard’s killer, a court heard.
One of the Met Police officers allegedly shared with Wayne Couzens a message about pinning down a girl.
William Neville, 34, Jonathon Cobban, 35, and former PC Joel Borders, 45, all deny the charges.
Couzens is serving a full life term for the kidnap, rape, and murder of Ms Everard in March last year.
Speaking about Neville, from Weybridge, Surrey, prosecutor Edward Brown QC said: “He got pleasure from the detention of a 15-year-old girl with what he called a ‘struggle snuggle’.
“We submit that this is acting out a rape fantasy.”
“Cobban encourages this, and comments ‘haha’, displaying an amused reaction.”
Mr Brown suggested that the expression “struggle snuggle” implies “using lawful physical restraint as an excuse or cover for non-consensual physical or sexual contact”.
Other messages, which were allegedly sent in the group two years before Couzens killed Ms Everard, were read to Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
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They included a comment by Cobban, from Didcot, Oxfordshire, about domestic violence victims.
Mr Brown said the messages “target the most vulnerable in society who often feel unable to report abuse to police”.
Meanwhile, Borders, from Preston, Lancashire, is accused of speaking about raping a female colleague.
In his police interviews, Cobban has said he regretted sending the messages, describing them as “stupid”.
Borders described his comments as “dark humour which I appreciate will offend some people”.
The three officers were formerly in the Civil Nuclear Constabulary before being transferred to the Met on February 11, 2019.
Cobban and Neville, 34 are serving police officers, though they are suspended presently.
The three men are charged with offences contrary to the Communications Act 2003, Section 127 (1) which relates to “improper use of a public electronic communications network”. The nature of the messages is alleged to be “grossly offensive”.
The three men do not deny sending the messages, but they do deny the charges that they are grossly offensive.
Messages sent by Couzens were not read in court due to other ongoing investigations.
The trial continues.
