The Metropolitan Police has been hit with a fresh scandal over claims of racism and misogyny after officers at a London police station were secretly filmed making offensive comments and bragging about using violence.
Damning footage gathered in a seven-month undercover investigation for a Panorama documentary has raised fresh questions over culture and standards at Britain’s biggest police force.
Recordings show one officer, PC Phil Neilson, while off duty, suggesting an immigrant who had overstayed his visa should be shot.
He said: “Either put a bullet through his head or deport him. And the ones that shag women, rape women, you do the c*** and let them bleed out.”
The filming also uncovered officers making sexualised comments about women, being dismissive about a rape complaint, making anti-Muslim remarks and appearing to boast about the use of excessive force.
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has branded the revelations “shocking”, adding that Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley “needs to be very robust in his response”.
Sir Mark has issued an apology for the “reprehensible and completely unacceptable” behaviour. Within 48 hours of receiving the allegations, nine officers and one designated detention officer, who is a civilian member of staff, were suspended.
They are under investigation for gross misconduct by watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct. One constable is facing a criminal investigation for allegedly perverting the course of justice.
Sir Mark said where there is “incontrovertible evidence of racism, misogyny, anti-Muslim sentiment or bragging about excessive use of force” he expects them to be fast-tracked for disciplinary proceedings where they face “likely dismissal”.
While off duty, drinking at a pub, PC Neilson also told undercover reporter Rory Bibb that Algerians and Somalians are “scum”, and made reference to there being an invasion of the UK by migrants.
“I think any foreign person is the worst to deal with,” he said.
“I’ve seen too many Islamics [sic] committing crimes. Their way of life is not the correct way of life. You do find that the ones that are causing the most crime are Muslim.”
In another exchange, PC Martin Borg bragged about a colleague stamping on a detainee’s leg and laughed about the suspect screaming. He also appeared to discuss falsifying a witness statement about the incident.
PC Borg was also filmed saying that Muslims “hate us” and that “Islam is a problem”.
In a separate incident, Sergeant Joe McIlvenny made comments about a woman who had been arrested while wearing a fancy dress police outfit.
He also made sexualised comments about a woman he had met online and turned conversations to sex while at work, including discussing masturbation.
In one conversation, he was dismissive of a rape complaint and another victim’s claim that her abusive partner had kicked her in the stomach while pregnant.
Another officer was filmed bragging about breaking tendons in suspects’ fingers if they refuse to be fingerprinted.
Footage from inside a cell at the police station showed a 17-year-old autistic teenager being restrained by up to eight officers for throwing a pillow and then being held on the floor for two hours.
PC Neilson told the undercover Panorama reporter that he had tormented the suspect by pressing on pressure points on his body while in a police van.
Mother Mina Smallman, who received an apology from the force in 2021 after officers shared photographs of her murdered daughter’s bodies, said it is time to address the Met’s behaviour.
“When people are comfortable and their guard is down, we get to see what they're really like,” she told the BBC.
Allegations against the 10 staff under investigation include excessive use of force, making discriminatory and misogynistic comments, and failing to report or challenge inappropriate behaviour.
Sir Mark Rowley said he is “truly sorry” for the officers’ behaviour and pledged that any wrongdoers would be sacked within weeks, but signalled he would not resign over the scandal.
He said the behaviour of officers was “ghastly” and “reprehensible”, telling LBC: “Clearly there’s racism in there, there’s misogyny, there’s clearly relishing in using excess force.”
He claims the force has improved since he took the reins three years ago, but accepted there was still a “cancer to be removed” in an interview with BBC London.
A damning 2023 review by Baroness Louise Casey, published in the wake of the rape and murder of Sarah Everard by serving Met officer Wayne Couzens, concluded the force is institutionally racist, homophobic and misogynistic.
The scandal is the second to hit the central London police station after a string of shocking messages exchanged by officers at the same police station were exposed in 2022.
Officers at Charing Cross were found by the IOPC to have joked about rape and domestic abuse, and made racist comments in messages exchanged by officers between 2016 and 2018.
Sir Mark’s predecessor Cressida Dick resigned following the scandal, after mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan said he no longer had confidence in her leadership.
Sir Mark has been backed by Sir Sadiq, who said he has confidence in the commissioner’s efforts to kick wrongdoers out of the Met. He said that he is “disgusted and appalled” by the latest alleged behaviour, filmed while staff were both on and off duty between August 2024 and January 2025.
The entire custody team at Charing Cross has been disbanded and moved elsewhere in the wake of the allegations.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp MP also backed Sir Mark in his drive to clean up the force, adding: “Every officer who abuses their power lets down their colleagues and the public.”
Paula Dodds, chair of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said: “The federation deplores any discriminatory behaviour in the strongest possible terms – such behaviour has no place in policing or society.
“If officers are proven to be guilty of criminal offences or serious gross misconduct, then we do not want these individuals in the job.
“But all police officers – like all people – have the right to representation and due process, and not trial by media or documentary. Or indeed senior officers or politicians.”
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “The disturbing scenes in this footage are sickening. I welcome the Independent Office for Police Conduct fully and urgently investigating all the issues raised in this report.
“It is right that the Metropolitan Police have condemned this, and we fully support their pledge to root out those unfit to serve the public. I know this is a top priority for the commissioner.
“We have given police chiefs the powers to automatically sack officers who fail background checks and dismiss those guilty of gross misconduct, and we expect them to be used.”
