A Metropolitan Police superintendent has been convicted of possessing an indecent image of a child on her phone, after being sent an unsolicited WhatsApp video by her sister. Supt Robyn Williams, 54, was found guilty by a jury at the Old Bailey but cleared of corruptly failing to report the material to police.
The court heard that Williams was at a gym class in February 2018 when her sister, Jennifer Hodge, sent her the video via WhatsApp. Hodge, 56, was outraged by its content and wanted the person behind it caught. Under the law on possessing indecent images, Williams had to prove she had a legitimate reason to hold it, or that she had not seen the video and had no reason to believe it was indecent.
Williams, who denied the charge, maintained she never saw the thumbnail image and did not play the one-minute video. The prosecution alleged she was lying to protect her sister, but the jury rejected the claim that she had seen a thumbnail and failed to report the matter. She was acquitted of corruptly failing to report the image after more than 10 hours of deliberation, with a 10-to-one majority verdict.
Williams, who was honoured for her work after the Grenfell fire disaster, is one of the most senior female African-Caribbean police officers. She was a founder member of the National Black Police Association, helped set up a gay police association, campaigned for more women in policing and received the Queen's Police Medal. The court heard she had served 36 years and now faces potential dismissal.
Her sister, Jennifer Hodge, was convicted of distributing an indecent image of a child, having sent it to 17 people including Williams. Hodge's partner, Dido Massivi, 61, was convicted of distributing two indecent images and possessing an extreme image. The prosecutor, Richard Wright QC, said the defendants had no sexual interest in the images, but made serious errors of judgment in how they handled the video.
After the verdict, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matthew Horne said the prosecution had called it a 'sad case' and noted the 'serious errors of judgment'. The Independent Office for Police Conduct is carrying out a misconduct investigation, and Williams remains on restricted duties.
