Cop who shared racist memes and jokes online in wake of George Floyd’s murder jailed
A COP who shared a barrage of racist memes and jokes online in the wake of George Floyd’s murder has been jailed.
Ex-prison officer James Watts, 31, served with West Mercia Police when he kept sending the offensive images to other former jail staff in a WhatsApp group.
They were posted in the days after a US cop murdered Floyd by kneeling on his neck in May 2020.
Jailing the married dad of one for 20 weeks, magistrate Tanweer Ikram told Watts: “Over a period of a month you continued to post messages that were grossly offensive.
“This goes beyond stupidity. The hostility you demonstrated makes this so serious only an immediate custodial sentence will suffice.”
Watts’ crimes came to light when a member of the WhatsApp group who had told him to stop took to Twitter to expose what was being said.
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Watts, from Birmingham, admitted ten offences under the Communication Act at the city’s magistrates’ court.
He left West Mercia Police in January last year.
