Computer operator Jonathon Cobban, 35, and ex-officer Joel Borders, 45, had denied charges of sending grossly offensive messages. A court heard the conversations, from 2019, included posts discussing rape, domestic abuse and violence against women. Coban was found guilty of three counts of sending grossly offensive messages and acquitted of two, while Borders was convicted of all five counts he faced. He will be sentenced on November 2. Their co-accused, P.K. William Neville, 34, was acquitted of two counts of the same charge. Their defense lawyers tried to dismiss the case in July, arguing that the messages did not meet the legal definition of “grossly offensive” because they were sent to a private chat group where “no one was offended and no one was targeted.” District Judge Sarah Turnock dismissed the application, saying the messages could be grossly offensive within the meaning of the Communications Act 2003. Handing down her verdicts at City of London Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, she described their messages as “disgusting” and “disgusting”. The Metropolitan Police said it would “proceed without delay with internal misconduct proceedings” against Coban and P.K. Neville, because they couldn’t start while the court case was going on. Commander Jon Savell added: “The behavior of these officers is abhorrent and I condemn them for sending such grossly offensive and disgusting messages. It is shocking that they consider this language to be defensive. “We expect our officers to have the highest standards of conduct. We are determined to rid this organization of those who corrupt its integrity and are increasing our efforts to do this more quickly. As a result, we may well see more cases emerge as we leave no stone unturned in dealing with aggressive behaviour. “I am deeply sorry that these officers have let the public and their colleagues at the Met down.” The force’s new commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, has pledged to restore public trust and has announced plans to recruit more than 100 officers to the Professional Standards Directorate. Rosemary Ainslie, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said she would prosecute similar offenses against police officers “rigorously” when it was in the public interest. “It is incomprehensible that serving police officers believe it was appropriate to share these types of grossly offensive messages with others,” he added. “They weren’t just shocking or disturbing jokes, they amounted to criminal offences.” Former Metropolitan Police officer Joel Borders arrives at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London accused of sharing “extremely offensive” WhatsApp messages with Sarah Everard’s killer Wayne Cousins. Photo date: Thursday, July 28, 2022. (PA Wire) During the men’s trial in July, Westminster Magistrates’ Court was told the messages were discovered on a WhatsApp group called ‘Bottle and Stoppers/Atkin’s Puppets’ after Couzens was arrested for the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard in March 2021 . Prosecutor Edward Brown QC said the conversation involved “a close-knit group” of officers, including the three defendants, who had been transferred from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary to the Metropolitan Police in February 2019. “There is no evidence that any of the accused, or the other members of the group, ‘shouted’ or challenged any of their co-accused when they received what the prosecution say were offensive messages,” he added. While giving evidence in their defence, the men argued that the messages were “batch”, jokes or misinterpreted by the prosecution. In one exchange, Borders wrote of a female police officer: “She’s going to use me as an example. Lead me and shut me up when I rush her and hit her! Sneaky b****.” Other posts saw participants in the conversation joking about police sexual acts on domestic violence victims, with Coban writing in June 2019: “It’s okay, abuse victims love it…that’s why they’re repeat victims most of the time “. Borders replied, “No, they just don’t listen!” Responding to a colleague’s account of the domestic violence response days later, Borders wrote: “Bet they all had one thing in common. Women who don’t listen.” During the same exchange, Cobban called a racially diverse area of London a “hole”, described an audience member who asked him for directions as “yellow” and remarked: “The shops aren’t even in English. “ Borders wrote that it “felt like a point in a domino” in London’s Feltham district and described Hounslow as “twinned with Baghdad”. 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