Natalie Dolan allegedly sent racist and ableist WhatsApp messages
Paul Britton Reporter and Husna Anjum Senior Live News Reporter
19:36, 29 Apr 2026Updated 19:42, 29 Apr 2026
Sgt Natalie Dolan(Image: GMP)
A Greater Manchester Police sergeant mocked trainee officers by calling them “Harveys who need to be read to” in an apparent reference to Katie Price’s disabled son, a misconduct hearing has been told.
Natalie Dolan, who worked as a police trainer, is also accused of referring to student officers as “lickers” and “sp*ckers”. The hearing was told she made what was described as a “most obviously racist comment”, claiming the force was “recruiting at the mosque” and saying to “blame HR”.
Sgt Dolan – who trained young officers and has more than 20 years experience in the force – was said to be ‘dismayed at the quality of recruits’, ManchesterEveningNews reports
She also allegedly referred to a senior officer as a ‘racist’, it was said. Sgt Dolan is said to have said in one message: “He won’t answer you. He is a white male. He is racist.”
Counsel for GMP, Stephen Morley, also referenced another message in which he said she referred to the Chief Constable of GMP, Sir Stephen Watson, as an ‘ar*e’.
“She is talking about the Chief Constable being an ar*e,” he said, referencing Sir Stephen as ‘the head of this organisation’.
It is alleged that Sgt Dolan and a former cop, named at the hearing only as PC Jones, ‘exchanged inappropriate WhatsApp messages which were racist, sexist, ableist and offensive’. (stock image)(Image: Anna Barclay/Getty Images)
It is alleged that Sgt Dolan and a former cop, named at the hearing only as PC Jones, ‘exchanged inappropriate WhatsApp messages which were racist, sexist, ableist and offensive’.
It’s also alleged she shared information of a ‘confidential nature’ about other officers with former PC Jones and ‘failed to declare a conflict of interest’ in relation to him.
Greater Manchester Police allege both have breached the required ‘standards of professional behaviour’ in relation to GMP officers as a result. If proven, the allegations ‘jointly and separately’ amount to gross misconduct, the force said.
Closing submissions were made on Wednesday (April 29). Mr Morley said there were ‘disputes’ over the text messages, but ‘misconduct is admitted’ on Sgt Dolan’s part. “We say that even on the basis of what the sergeant admits, this is gross misconduct,” he said.
Sgt Dolan, the hearing was told, says she was having a ‘private conversation’ and it was a ‘private matter’. She denies gross misconduct and a conflict of interest between them. The messages were said to have been exchanged from May 2021 onwards.
“This is an issue of respect and a lack of respect,” Mr Morley said. The misconduct hearing was told the context and meaning of some of the messages are contested by Sgt Dolan, 48. “There are a couple of texts that we say are racist texts,” Mr Morley said. “She denies being a racist.”
“Messages, we say, are clearly aimed at mocking the disabled, saying that students officers are disabled or like disabled people in some way. Sgt Dolan denies all of this. Harveys. You have all the Harveys who need to be read to. She does say joke. She does say ‘LOL’.
“She is referring to the students. She is referring to the students as ‘Harveys’. She used the word sp*cker. He used the word sp*cker. She found it funny.”
Mr Morley said ‘licker’ refers in a ‘horrible way’ to disabled people. Jennifer Ferrario, counsel for Sgt Dolan, said misconduct proceedings have spanned almost three years. In her closing submission, she said the ‘Harvey’ message was a ‘joke’ and related to a ‘Harvey GIF’ Katie Price herself posted on social media which referenced it having ‘been a hard day’.
The student officers on that day, Ms Ferrario said, had been ‘hard work’. She said Sgt Dolan meant ‘slacker’ instead of ‘sp*cker, with the misconduct hearing being told it was a typo, and meant ‘ar** licker’ instead of ‘licker’.
Ms Ferrario, referencing the ‘mosque’ message, also said there was a recruitment event held at a mosque, which is what Sgt Dolan was referring to.
Character references on behalf of the officer have praised a ‘model police officer’ and the ‘go-to sergeant’ in terms of student officer training, she added, someone who was ‘inclusive and supportive’.
“They were gossiping privately,” Ms Ferrario said of the messages. “In 4,134 messages, there are approximately 17 occasions where Sgt Dolan has used disparaging or offensive comments and there are a further 10 or 12 that are denied.
“Gossping happens in every profession. She’s accepted that she sent disparaging and offensive words and comments to Mr Jones in messages.”
She said there was one occasion where Sgt Dolan has admitted ‘that there was a mocking of student officers’. Ms Ferrario said: “She regrets her actions. She regrets the messages that she admits to sending and that they were disparaging and or offensive. She has made admissions and expressed her regret and remorse.
“Do the facts that you find proven warrant a possibility of dismissal? We say they don’t. That’s why we invite you to find misconduct only.”
The hearing at GMP headquarters, in front of a panel chaired by GMP’s Chief Resource Officer Lee Rawlinson, continues.
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