PC Harry Chandler sacked for using racial slur on WhatsApp

A police officer has been fired after regulators investigating the exchange of crime scene photos of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman found he used racial slurs on WhatsApp.

PC Harry Chandler, who was based in north-east London, used the “p-word” in a message to another police officer about which area of ​​London to rent a flat in, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.

The insult was revealed during an investigation into photographs taken at the crime scene at Fryent Country Park in Wembley in June 2020.

Jamie Lewis and Deniz Jaffer, who were Metropolitan Police officers at the time, were jailed for two years and nine months for taking and distributing photographs of Ms Smallman and Ms Henry as they lay dead.

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The IOPC said PC Chandler was dismissed without notice after allegations of serious misconduct were proven at a two-day disciplinary hearing which ended on Friday.

The independently chaired disciplinary panel found that the case proved that PC Chandler had breached standards of professional conduct relating to equality and diversity and had shown discreditable conduct, the IOPC said.

PC Chandler, who admitted the charge, will also be banned from future employment in the police service.

IOPC regional director Graham Beesley said: “PC Chandler’s use of offensive language in his WhatsApp messages came to light while we were investigating photographs taken at the scene of the murders of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry by former Met officers Jamie Lewis and Deniz Jaffer.

“His dismissal today sends a clear message that the use of offensive language, whether on or off the job, is completely unacceptable.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Richard Tucker, who leads the Metropolitan Police’s North East Command, said: “The use of language of this nature is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated. PC Chandler has rightly been held to account for his actions.”

Former Met officers Lewis and Jaffer were jailed for two years and nine months for taking and distributing photographs of Ms Smallman and Ms Henry as they lay dead.

The IOPC confirmed that the messages from PC Chandler were found on a phone belonging to Lewis during its initial investigation into the crime scene photographs.

The watchdog said it then received a separate referral from the Met in July 2020 and completed its investigation in May 2021.

Lewis’s failure to challenge the messages was among the allegations made at a recent fast-track hearing held by the Met when he was dismissed from the force following his conviction for misconduct in public office.

The IOPC said its investigators obtained PC Chandler’s account, analyzed WhatsApp messages and gathered witness statements.