Racist police unit ‘compared black officer to a mixed-breed dog’

An anonymous complaint led to a bug being installed which allegedly picked up a series of derogatory remarks.

A ‘toxic’ specialist police unit were caught making ‘abhorrent’ racist, sexist and homophobic comments by a bugging device, a disciplinary hearing has heard.

The six officers in Hampshire police’s Serious Organised Crime Unit (Socu) office are alleged to have made a series of  discriminatory remarks that demean women, people of colour, disabled and LGBT people, among others. They are said to have suggested Albanians should be ‘killed with nerve agents’ while illegal immigrants deserved to be be handed the death penalty, while also referring to people as ‘pavement dogs’, ‘fit Dorises’ and ‘pikeys’.

Retired Detective Inspector Tim Ireson, Detective Sergeant Oliver Lage, Detective Sergeant Gregory Willcox, former Pc Craig Bannerman, trainee Detective Constable Andrew Ferguson and Pc James Oldfield are all accused of breaching professional standards.

Jason Beer QC, presenting the case against the officers, said that following an anonymous complaint, covert recording devices were placed in the unit’s offices in Basingstoke between March 9 and April 2, 2018.

Detailing the abusive comments, Mr Beer continued: ‘It was firstly a unit that was sexist – women were called or referred to as whores, sluts, sweet tits or sugar tits, Dorises, a f***ing Doris, who should show officers their tits, who had their arses stared at in the canteen, who had tits and minges or a juicy minge or a growler or an angry beaver, a suspect is called a f***ing c***.

‘And the officers ponder amongst themselves if a person using the tannoy system is “getting any cock”.’

He continued: ‘It was a unit that was racist – a black officer is described as a pavement special, ie a mixed-breed dog.

‘People are described as pikeys, a black officer is accused of behaving like a colonial overseer running a plantation of white people, when speaking to a black officer a colleague puts on a fake Caribbean accent – in fact he was from Ghana, a detail like that doesn’t matter, he was a black man after all.

‘A black officer is accused of being flown to England from Africa in a crate and taken to London zoo, all the time a song is sung in the background to the tune of Buffalo Soldier.’

The officers deny the charges against them.

Branding the unit ‘plain nasty’, Mr Beer added that ‘offensive’ photos of black men were shared on a WhatsApp group, which referred to the only black officer in the unit.

He said that the officers were also recorded using derogatory terms for disabled, gay and transgender people and they had also suggested that Albanian nationals ‘should be shot or even killed with a nerve agent’.

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Comments were also recorded saying that ‘illegal immigrants deserve the death penalty’, Mr Beer said.

He added: ‘It was a unit that was plain nasty, that displayed attitudes towards groups and communities that police officers are called upon to protect.’

Mr Beer explained to the Winchester hearing that the unit had relative isolation from the rest of the force due to the sensitive and sometimes covert nature of their work.

Two of the men are accused of failing to fulfil their supervisory roles to stop or report the inappropriate behaviour.

Mr Beer said the unit’s isolation and ‘a lack of leadership by Mr Ireson and Mr Willcox appears to have led to a toxic, abhorrent culture developing in the unit amongst some officers.’

‘(This) is inconsistent with the values and standards of the police service in the 21st century and inconsistent with continued service in the police service.’

Mr Oldfield is also accused of attending work after excessive alcohol consumption and Mr Willcox is also alleged to have falsely recorded hours and overtime, according to Hampshire police.

The hearing continues.

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