A former south London police officer has been jailed and slapped with a restraining order after sending a string of abusive, racist messages to his ex-partner because she began a romance with an Asian man.
PC Tom Phillips, who was a serving police officer in Croydon when he sent the messages, was given an immediate prison sentence of 71 days.
Judge Louisa Cieciora told him: “Your racist comments included not only what might be termed obvious racial slurs. They targeted appearance and stereotypes of criminality.
“It went far beyond simply lashing out in the context of a broken relationship. Your language and actions demonstrated that you harbour those core beliefs of racial hatred as well as misogyny.”
She added that his offending was aggravated by the fact that he had lied, falsely accusing his ex-partner – fellow police officer Samantha Ryan – of having faked the messages.
Phillips served on the Met’s Shirley South policing team, often using the department’s Met Police Twitter account to publish photographs of himself posing proudly in his uniform.
But his ex-partner alleged in open court that behind the façade was a controlling domestic abuser.
Prosecutor Louise Oakley said there had been “incidents of aggression” within his relationship with Ms Ryan, “with alleged allegations of domestic violence.”
In a tearful victim impact statement, Ms Ryan claimed that during her relationship with Phillips, upsetting him “resulted in being punched, kicked, having my hair pulled or being strangled to the point where I couldn’t breathe".
Phillips, 34, in a green polo shirt and beige trousers, folded his arms and smirked as Ms Ryan addressed Court Eight at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday (August 25).
But defence lawyer Colin Banham insisted: “There is remorse. It is genuine.”
He added that allegations of domestic abuse against his client were unproven, which Judge Cieciora accepted.
Phillips had admitted five counts of sending a grossly offensive/obscene/inappropriate message using a public communication network, despite originally denying them.
Mrs Oakley told the court that Phillips and Ms Ryan had entered into a relationship in 2017 and quickly moved in together.
“There were clearly issues in terms of the consumption of alcohol when behaviours would change and there’s suggestions of the defendant becoming arrogant and using behaviours that would belittle Ms Ryan.”
The relationship broke down in 2021 and Ms Ryan began a relationship with another police officer – Danny Gobin – but Phillips and Ms Ryan continued to occupy the property they jointly owned.
When Ms Ryan became ill and Mr Gobin sent her roses, the court heard Phillips took a photo of himself posing with the flowers and sent it to her as a mockery.
He also sent what Mrs Oakley called “a campaign” of offensive messages.
On April 8, 2021, Mr Phillips wrote to Ms Ryan: “He’s black. You’re ginger with a nice arse. He’s genetically drawn to you.
On April 20, he sent another message calling Mr Gobin a “mongrel”, then another which referred to him as a “n****r”.
On May 1, another message was sent in which he disparagingly referenced the race of any future children Ms Ryan and Mr Gobin might have.
And on May 8, Phillips sent another message: “He’s black. Why wouldn’t he be a thief?”
Mr Gobin became emotional as he read a victim impact statement to the court.
He told Judge Cieciora he was a white-Asian, with his mother from Ireland and his father from Mauritius.
He said being called the N-word sent “a physical shock through my body” and he took being called a “mongrel” as “a direct attack on my father and mother”.
“I just question why anyone would use this word to describe a human being,” he said.
Mr Gobin said Phillips’s behaviour “made me doubt the service I am working for” and “not only insulted my background but those he swore an oath to protect".
“It has left me in disbelief,” he said. “I have never come across such abuse, especially not from a serving police officer.”
He said the case had made him do “one thing I never thought I would do, and that is question my career in policing.”
Both Ms Ryan and Mr Gobin said their mental health had been badly affected by Phillips’s crimes and they had each had to undergo counselling.
Judge Cieciora said: “Your conduct has brought the police force and wider justice system into disrepute.”
Phillips showed no emotion as the sentence was handed down.
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