Former PC guilty of sharing 'grossly offensive' messages with Sarah Everard killer

Former PC Joel Borders, from Preston, was found guilty alongside serving Metropolitan Police officer Jonathon Cobban at City of London Magistrates’ Court today (Wednesday September 21).

Judge Sarah Turnock branded the messages sent by the police officers in a WhatsApp group with Sarah Everard’s killer, including jokes about using weapons against disabled people, “sickening” and “disgusting”.

Met Constables William Neville, 34, and Cobban, 35, and former PC, Borders, 45, were members of the chat called “Bottle and Stoppers” along with Sarah Everard's killer, Wayne Couzens.

In messages on April 5 2019, Cobban and Borders swapped comments about tasering children, animals and “downys,” a term used by Borders which the prosecution argued referred to people with Down’s Syndrome.

Neville was cleared of sending grossly offensive messages but his two colleagues were convicted on Wednesday following a trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in July.

Borders and Cobban swapped what they claimed was “banter” about tasering children and people with disabilities, and referred to Hounslow as a “Somali s***hole” in comments made in the group in 2019.

At the start of delivering a judgment on Wednesday (September 21), Judge Turnock said it was “abhorrent” that Borders “demonstrates an ablest attitude by then adding a disabled person to Cobban’s disgusting list of victims.”

“I can honestly say that I consider it to be sickening to think of a police officer joking about using firearms in this way,” she added.

Joel Borders (Image: PA)

Borders denied charges relating to improper use of a public electronic communications network between April 5 and August 9, 2019, as did his co-accused, and during the trial in July, the 45-year-old told Westminster Magistrates’ Court, “my image was perfect and I behaved perfectly with people”, but he was, “naive”, when he first joined the Metropolitan Police in 2019.

Speaking about a female colleague, in one message, Borders said she would, “lead me on then get me locked up when I rape and beat her! Sneaky b****”.

Their WhatsApp “Bottle and Stoppers” chat comprised of seven officers who had transferred from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) to the Met, and included Sarah Everard’s killer, Wayne Couzens.

Borders had worked for the CNC from March 30, 2014, and transferred to the Met on February 11, 2019.

He left the force on December 9 2020, for unrelated reasons and before he was told about Couzens or that he was being investigated for misconduct in August 2021.

In messages previously read to the court, Borders said: “I can’t wait to get on the guns so I can shoot some c*** in the face”, and suggested tasering people with Down’s Syndrome.

During cross-examination by his lawyer Nicholas Yeo, Borders told the court that he was “well thought-of on the job” and his “joke” messages, had been “blown out of proportion”.

“I was an exemplary officer,” he said.

“I always turned up to work early, I always dressed smart, made sure my boots were clean.

“My image was perfect and I behaved perfectly with people.

“I know that’s me saying this, but I was well thought-of on the job.

“People actively wanted to be partnered with me because I was good at the job.

“There’s a lot of officers who are not good at their job and it makes it difficult to be partnered up with them on a case.

“I admit that I was naive when I first joined the Met.

“I had a different sense of humour then.

“But meeting people on the job, being involved in delicate matters, it changed what I find funny.

“I still have a dark sense of humour, I still laugh at things that maybe I shouldn’t laugh at.”

Borders kept his eyes fixed on the ceiling as the judgment was delivered and Cobban remained expressionless. Neville smiled as he was cleared of both counts against him and allowed to leave the dock.

The pair will be sentenced at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on November 2.