A student police officer allegedly hid in a wardrobe to spy on his colleague having sex before leaping out and saying: ‘Hello, madam’.
Luke Chafer watched on with a mobile phone as his housemate Joshua Hollis was intimate with a young woman, a misconduct hearing was told.
The two aspiring officers – who studied policing at the University of Derby and volunteered as special constables – were alleged to be part of an Instagram group chat with other students which made jokes about rape.
They face being banned from policing at a Derbyshire Constabulary disciplinary hearing.
Presenting solicitor David Ring told the meeting how the woman believed she was alone with Hollis in October 2019.
He said: ‘After five to 10 minutes she was shocked to see Mr Chafer appear from a wardrobe of the bedroom and acknowledge her by saying “hello, madam”.
‘She saw he had his mobile phone in his hand and appeared to be watching something on the screen.
‘Having said “hello madam”, he walked out of the room without any further comment.’
It was claimed another student remained hidden for up to 45 minutes and that the housemates laughed about the ‘prank’ the following day.
Mr Ring said: ‘Female A describes Mr Hollis finding the incident very funny and laughing about it. It was not, however, remotely amusing to Female A.’
Six students were in the Instagram chat called ‘You’re F***ing Getting It’.
Screenshots from the chat were leaked in April 2020, sparking ‘widespread outrage’.
In one message, Hollis was encouraged to sleep with a woman while the rest of them hid ‘in secret locations to watch’.
In another message, a member suggested the chat-up line ‘Are you a child? Cause I want to rape you.’
Girls’ photos were also rated by the group, with screenshots showing one member sharing a girl’s post with the caption: ‘Zero lips. Minging face.’
Mr Ring said: ‘There were comments and observations that were patently sexist and degrading to women, and included reference to rape and acts of forced sex.’
When questioned about the remarks, the two volunteer officers said they had quoted from TV show The Inbetweeners.
The pair, who are no longer special constables and were not present at the hearing, previously denied having a voyeurism plan.
But Mr Ring said: ‘The Inbetweeners is a fictional programme depicting outlandish characters at secondary school – which is a significant difference from people who are preparing to be police officers.’
Hollis also faced claims he kept prohibited Captor spray – a type of CS gas – at his girlfriend’s home. He also faces sanctions after being convicted of drink-driving in December last year.
Both men are alleged to have breached policing standards relating to discreditable conduct, respect and courtesy, and challenging and reporting improper conduct.
The University of Derby, which runs a policing course licensed by the College of Policing, suspended five students over the Instagram chat in April 2020.
The offensive contents were revealed when a coursemate shared screenshots to Facebook.
She wrote at the time: ‘The comments made about each of the girls are degrading and humiliating and shows their complete disrespect to women.
‘The same boys in this group chat are aspiring to be police [officers]. PLEASE do not let these boys get away with this.’
The disciplinary hearing, at Derbyshire Police headquarters in Ripley, Derbys, is set to announce its findings tomorrow.
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