A Suffolk man is one of six former Metropolitan Police officers who have been given suspended sentences.

The men were previously found guilty of sending grossly offensive racist messages on WhatsApp.

Alan Hall, 65, from Stowmarket in Suffolk, was sentenced alongside Michael Chadwell, 62, Peter Booth, 66, Anthony Elsom, 67, Trevor Lewton, 65 and Robert Lewis, 62.

They were all sentenced to between six and 14 weeks’ imprisonment – suspended for 12 months – at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (December 7).

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Hall was given eight weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and 140 hours of unpaid work.

All six men were charged with improper use of a public electronic communications network offence, contrary to the Communications Act 2003.

The charges, which relate to messages shared between September 2020 and 2022, came after a BBC Newsnight investigation in October last year.

This then prompted a probe by the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards.

Chadwell, Booth, Elsom, Lewton, Hall and Lewis were all members of the “Old Boys Beer Meet – Wales” group chat, where a number of racist, homophobic and sexist messages were exchanged, the CPS said.

More than 60 messages with offensive content were shared during the two-year period.

This included references to the Duchess of Sussex, the late Queen, the late Duke of Edinburgh and PM Rishi Sunak.

The group, who retired between 2001 and 2015, served in various parts of the Met throughout their careers.

However, they all spent time in the Diplomatic Protection Group, now known as the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, the force said.

Adeniyi Ogunleye, senior crown prosecutor at the CPS, said: “It is shocking that six retired police officers who spent their careers upholding the law could think it was acceptable to send these grossly offensive messages."