Three officers are due in court over allegations they shared racist and misogynistic messages with killer Wayne Couzens.

Two serving Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers and one former MPS officer are charged with sending "grossly offensive messages" on a WhatsApp group in which ex-cop Couzens, from Deal, was a member.

The alleged messages were sent between April and August 2019 - before Couzens abducted, raped and killed Sarah Everard.

He is now serving a whole life sentence for the horrific crimes.

An investigation into the sending and sharing of inappropriate messages was launched by police watchdog Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in April last year - just one month after married father-of-two Couzens was arrested.

Now, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has authorised charges against the officers.

They are due in court next month.

An IOPC spokesman said: "Two serving Metropolitan Police Service officers and one former MPS officer are to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on March 16 charged in connection with our investigation into the sending and sharing of inappropriate messages on WhatsApp.

"They are charged with sending grossly offensive messages on a public communications network contrary to section 127 of the Communications Act 2003.

"The offences are alleged to have occurred between April and August 2019.

"Our investigation began following a referral from the MPS in April last year (2021) and was completed in December when we referred a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

"The CPS has now taken the decision to authorise charges against the officers."

The CPS said it cannot confirm the names of the officers for operational reasons.

Couzens was a serving Met Police officer, working as a parliamentary guard, when he made a false arrest and snatched Ms Everard, 33, from the streets of London on March 3.

He drove her to Kent in a hire car, before switching to his own vehicle, and then driving to rural Dover where he raped and strangled Sarah.

He then burnt and hid her body in woodland near Ashford.

A major search was launched to find Sarah, which ended after Couzens' arrest at his Deal home on March 9.

He was sentenced in September to a whole life tariff.

During his career, he had worked at the Metropolitan Police, Civil Nuclear Constabulary, and Kent Police.

An inquiry is now looking into whether any “red flags were missed” earlier in his career.

He also worked at a family owned garage in Dover.

He is being held at tough HMP Frankland, County Durham, alongside other killers including Levi Bellfield and Ian Huntley.

Last week, it was revealed he had Covid-19.

Rosemary Ainslie, head of the CPS special crime division, said: “Following a referral of evidence by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the CPS has authorised charges against two serving Metropolitan Police officers and one former officer.

“All three will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on March 16 for their first hearing.

“Each of the three defendants has been charged with sending grossly offensive messages on a public communications network. The alleged offences took place on a WhatsApp group chat.

“The function of the CPS is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges to a court to consider.

“Criminal proceedings are active and nothing should be published that could jeopardise the defendants right to a fair trial.”