Firearms officer who sent homophobic and racist texts guilty of misconduct

A Merseyside firearms officer who stole equipment from a police station and sent homophobic and racist text messages has been found guilty of gross misconduct.

PC Daniel Johnson, from Heswall, was found to have committed a string of unacceptable acts after he was anonymously reported for taking two battering rams from an area known as "the ratting bins" at Smithdown Lane police station on August 4 2021.

A misconduct hearing at Merseyside Police HQ, which concluded today, May 17, found the 43-year-old breached standards of professional behaviour with regards to honesty and integrity, equality and diversity, orders and instructions, duties and responsibilities, and general conduct.

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The panel cleared Johnson of the allegation of theft from Smithdown Lane, as it was heard the firearms officer had taken the broken battering rams from a "jumble sale" of discarded items, which officers would often pick up for personal use.

However, it was found he did steal a blade from Speke station on August 5 2021, when he was caught on CCTV taking the item from an equipment storage room. Johnson had claimed he intended to return the saw, but had been too busy to do so before a period of paternity leave which began on August 25.

But panel chairman David Tyme said: "PC Johnson took the blade from the rap store and failed to take any steps in establishing if he was permitted to take it, or make any record of confirmation that he was in possession of the blade. Furthermore, between August 5 and September 14, when the blades were seized, he had ample opportunity to return it if he wished to do so."

Incriminating WhatsApp messages found on Johnson's phone revealed he had also stolen a rip saw from Smithdown Lane sometime during 2017. He claimed the saw had been given to him by a now-retired constable, who told him he could keep it - but when investigating officers tracked down the retiree, he told them no such exchange had occurred.

Further WhatsApp messages were found to be homophobic and racist in nature. On March 12 2019, he text a fellow officer describing two senior colleagues as "two p***s together", and on May 2 he sent the same officer a "plainly racist" picture of a Muslim woman on a fairground ride, along with the words "detonator bombs away".

In total, Johnson was found to have committed four acts of gross misconduct with regards to the two thefts and the homophobic and racist texts.

He was also found guilty of two acts of misconduct with regards to drinking while on-call and breaking Covid-19 restrictions.

On April 30 2021, he had lunch with his wife and drank wine at the The Jug and Bottle pub during an 8am-4pm on-call shift. According to CCTV footage, he left the pub at around 1.20pm and returned with his friends at 3.25pm, where he drank a pint of beer.

He said he believed he was still "fit for duty" at the time, however, Mr Tyme said his possible level of intoxication did not matter as drinking any amount of alcohol on the clock was enough to prove misconduct.

Johnson also admitted breaching Covid-19 lockdown rules by throwing a 40th birthday party at his home in June 2020.

Following the hearing, Merseyside Police barrister Barney Branston called on the panel to hand down "the appropriate outcome based on extremely serious findings of theft, racism and homophobia". He said: "We have accepted that this is an exceptionally competent officer who is highly thought of by his peers. But due to the nature of these proceedings, the weight of personal mitigation will necessarily be limited as serious misconduct has been proven."

He added: "It must be obvious that misconduct cannot carry an easier sanction just because the practitioner is particularly skilled. We acknowledge this is a competent officer, however this is not an exceptional case. These are so serious that nothing short of dismissal will do justice to the case."

Ben Summers, representing Johnson, called on the panel to take Johnson's 21 years of service, commendations and character reference into account. He said: "It has to be in knowledge of the full facts and that includes his long service. Which undermines public confidence more? That an officer is forgiven in the interest of protecting the public from the most violent and dangerous offenders, or that all of that is thrown away for effectively four pieces of stupidity - a saw blade, a rip saw and two messages on WhatsApp?"

The panel retired to consider its decision.

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