Police apologise over answer phone message

7:05am Saturday 18th November 2006

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Two police officers have apologised to a single mother after accidentally leaving a filthy message on her answer phone.

Putney woman Laura Whibley was horrified when she checked her messages to find one from the pair of laughing policemen who joked that she loved group sex, was a "pain in the arse" and even had an unusual use for a shaved cactus.

PC Wayne Orton and Inspector Giles Allington accidentally left the message after failing to hang up the phone properly following a call they made to the 28-year-old to leave a message about a court case in which she was the victim.

Wandsworth police have since apologised to the mother-of-three. The two officers have been taken off her case and will be monitored for a year by senior officers.

Ms Whibley has been in regular contact with the police for two years because of a long campaign of harassment, which has included receiving death threats over the phone and her car being petrol bombed.

She could not believe her ears when she heard the outrageous comments made at the tail-end of the call, to update her on the case.

PC Orton, based at Wandsworth police station, failed to hang up before starting to gossip with his boss about Ms Whibley.

A few seconds and several scandalous comments later Insp Allington was heard to say: "Is that phone live?" PC Orton said it was not but, unconvinced, Insp Allington continued: "Are you sure about that? I wouldn't like it if her phone was still..."

The recording then suddenly stopped, the officers having realised their mistake.

Ms Whibley said: "I'm disgusted. You put your trust in the police and you think they are trained to deal with these matters seriously. You don't think for one minute that they're going to join in with the people harrassing you."

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that a complaint was made to Wandsworth police regarding an incident that occurred on October 11 involving two officers.

"A meeting was held on October 12 between the complainant and the senior manager for the borough police. At the meeting the complainant stated she wished for the matter to be resolved locally and a formal letter of apology has been sent."

Indeed Ms Whibley has since received the letter from Detective Chief Inspector Steve Kershaw. He wrote: "I'd like to offer my apologies to you and your family for the conduct of the officers and any distress that has been caused.

"I sincerely hope there will not be a repeat of such unprofessional behaviour."

But Ms Whibley remains sceptical about the apology and is preparing to make a formal complaint to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

She said: "I don't think the apology is sincere, I think they're having quite a laugh about it and think it's hilarious. They should be sacked, I'm devastated about what they've done to me."