A WEST Yorkshire Police (WYP) officer involved in a WhatsApp conversation where racist and misogynistic messages were shared has been dismissed without notice following an investigation.

The probe, carried out by WYP under the direction of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), looked at messages sent and received by Kirklees-based PC Louis Hepplestone.

The IOPC received a referral from the force after a separate investigation found evidence of "concerning" phone messages between PC Hepplestone and a colleague.

As part of the separate investigation, messages were obtained from the phone of detention officer William Lloyd-Hughes, who was sentenced earlier this year over offensive social media posts.

The messages obtained from the phone showed a WhatsApp conversation between Lloyd-Hughes and PC Hepplestone, which began before they joined WYP.

The evidence showed that even after becoming a police officer, PC Hepplestone failed to challenge offensive messages containing racist comments and a joke about rape.

The messages also showed PC Hepplestone was aware of Lloyd-Hughes' racist views prior to him joining the force - but failed to raise concerns about this once Lloyd-Hughes became a WYP employee.

At a gross misconduct hearing, PC Hepplestone admitted sending and responding to offensive messages, as well as his failure to report the messages he received.