The family of a police officer who died has explained that they made his text messages public to call for help for those facing domestic abuse.

Ricky Jones served for 26 years as an officer at Gwent Police. He died by suicide two years ago at the age of 52.

In the aftermath of his death, his family found homophobic, racist, and misogynistic messages on his phone that he had been sharing with other police officers, as reported by the Mirror.

Messages also revealed sexual harassment targeting junior female colleagues, as well as cruel and racist remarks when referring to the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

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Speaking to Sky News, Jones' widow Sharon and his daughter Emma - whose names were changed to protect their identity - have revealed domestic abuse that they suffered at the hands of Jones.

"I was trapped," Sharon stated. "Wherever and whenever I went to any organization, they would just always refer me back to the police."

She claimed that everything they did in their lives was controlled by Jones. He would allegedly allocate them toilet rolls and control when and what they ate.

His daughter Emma stated: "To paint a picture, my father, he had full reign in this house, full control about what food we ate, where we slept."

Sharon revealed: "On one occasion, I said that if he didn't stop what he was doing to me and the children, I would go to the police about him."

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However Jones spoke to his colleagues before she could report his crimes, and he advised her that she could seek police help if she wanted, but they wouldn't believe anything she said.

The vile text messages between Jones and his colleagues have been shared by his family in order to raise awareness of those suffering domestic abuse at the hands of police officers.

"I feel like a public inquiry could contribute to actual real change that will help women across the UK and will help everybody," Sharon said.

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Gwent Police is under investigation by Wiltshire Police. Gwent Police Chief Constable Pam Kelly said: "These behaviors and attitudes have no place in Gwent Police and we will continue our ongoing work with our colleagues to set out clear expectations around the standards that both we and the public expect."

The investigation is still ongoing.

Featured image credit: Lee Hudson / Alamy

Family of police officer explain why they made his vile text messages public after his death