A member of staff has left Merseyside police after an investigation was launched into the posting on the force’s official Twitter account of tweets that made light of rape.
The force faced an outcry on social media after two tweets appeared in response to ”jokes” by football fans on Sunday afternoon.
One made reference to Sunderland’s heavy defeat at Everton, while the other was related to Chelsea’s troubled start to the Premier League season. Both were later deleted and the force apologised in a series of tweets posted afterwards.
The force said in a statement on Monday: “The individual concerned left the organisation today by mutual consent. He was a member of police staff.
“He was due to leave the organisation anyway but it was decided he would leave this morning.”
The earlier tweets were in response to one user, who tweeted to the force saying he wanted to report an “incident of rape that occurred at Goodison Park, Liverpool, on November 1st at 3:00”. The tweet was an apparent reference to Everton’s 6-2 home win over Sunderland on Sunday afternoon.
A second user tweeted: “I’d like to report an incident that has been going on for ages. Chelsea get raped every match, can you help?” In response, a tweet appeared on the force’s account that read: “Afraid not, its not a criminal offence to lose week in week out.”
The force used Twitter to apologise, saying that the “inappropriate” tweets did not reflect the “strenuous efforts” made by Merseyside police to investigate serious sexual crimes and protect victims.
We would like to apologise for any offence caused by inappropriate tweets from the force account this afternoon. They do not reflect (1/3)
— Merseyside Police (@MerseyPolice) November 1, 2015
the strenuous efforts made by Merseyside Police to investigate serious sexual crimes and protect victims. (2/3)
— Merseyside Police (@MerseyPolice) November 1, 2015
