A police officer in Exeter has been suspended after the Express and Echo reported offensive comments posted on a social networking website.

The story, which the paper splashed after following up a tip off, centres around video footage posted on Facebook.

The clips show people being restrained and arrested in the custody suite of a Devon police station with comments underneath, allegedly posted by the suspended officer.

The original story, written by Tom Arnold, was picked up by the Sunday Mirror just a few days later.

Express and Echo editor Marc Astley said: "It was a good old fashioned tip-off.

"A reader found the page but there was nothing he could do with it personally.

"The reporter downloaded the information from the website and we took it to the police.

"The swiftness with which they have dealt with it indicates how serious they consider it.

"I think it came as a complete surprise to them."

One of the video clips showed a youth pulling a knife on an officer in the custody suite before being restrained.

One of the posted comments said: ".....hope he got a good f****** shoeing in the cells." Further comments under other videos of arrests were of a similar vein.

All of them have now been removed and the investigation into the officer accused of posting them is still on going.

Marc said that because of the investigation, the Express and Echo adopted a cautious stance and did not name the officer involved.

"We had protracted legal discussions about this," he added.

"The advice was we could name him but there was a substantial risk as he had been suspending pending an investigation.

"If he was cleared as a result of that investigation, the question would remain – who did it? He might say 'I gave my friend a password'.

"We're not 100 per cent confident it was him who did it, that's why we've played it carefully.

"We are following it closely and have good contacts with the police – it's not one the police hope will go away.

"The consequences (for the officer) could be quite severe."

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