The lawyer for a British Columbia RCMP officer facing possible dismissal over derogatory comments in a private group chat and on police computer terminals says her client believed his behaviour was “condoned” by the force.

Allison Tremblay, lawyer for Coquitlam RCMP Const. Mersad Mesbah, said Wednesday that her client was “led astray” by superiors, and believed it was acceptable to “joke, vent, and use unfiltered language” in a Signal messaging app group chat with fellow officers.

She was speaking in closing submissions at a police hearing into whether comments by Mesbah and fellow Coquitlam RCMP constables Ian Solven and Philip Dick amounted to misconduct.

John MacLaughlan, a lawyer for the RCMP’s conduct authority, earlier said Mesbah’s comments contravened the force’s code of conduct

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