London, October 21: An investigation has revealed that a police officer in the United Kingdom shared a fake pornographic image of Prince Harry having sex with Kate Middleton in the department's group on WhatsApp. The investigation also found that six officers from Hampshire Police's Serious Organised Crime Unit (Socu) used sexist, racist and homophobic language in the WhatsApp group. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Officially Give Up Royal Titles.

According to a report of Daily Mail, the probe was launched in 2018 following an anonymous complaint, accusing the Socu officers of breaching professional standards. Covert recording devices were placed in the unit's offices between March 9 and April 2, 2018, and WhatsApp chats and emails of the accused officers were monitored. Deepfake: Bot Turning Women's Photographs Into Nude Pics Created by Cybercriminals, Says Sensity Report.

"On May 22, 2018, Detective Constable Andrew Ferguson sent an image to the Socu WhatsApp group showing Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex having sex with Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, the Daily Mail reported. Another officer PC James Oldfield, had shared a photoshopped image of the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

The image showed a black man exposing his genitals and the caption referred to the unit's only black officer, Detective Constable Sol Koranteng, who is not among the accused, stating "that's where Sol was on Saturday". On one occasion, Oilfield said, "sleep is for gays". He, however, claimed he didn't mean it in an offensive way.

Oldfield, Ferguson, Detective Inspector Tim Ireson along with Detective Sergeant Oliver Lage, Detective Sergeant Gregory Willcox and former PC Craig Bannerman, are accused of breaching professional standards. They all had appeared at the disciplinary hearing at Hampshire Police HQ in Eastleigh on October 20.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 21, 2020 01:20 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).