Three Metropolitan Police officers who worked at Charing Cross Police Station have been sacked after their “shocking” conduct was revealed in a BBC Panorama programme.
Sgt Joseph McIlvenny, PC Martin Borg and PC Phillip Neilson were found guilty of gross misconduct on Thursday after their “appalling” behaviour was revealed in footage captured by an undercover reporter.
The footage, which was aired in a documentary earlier this month, exposed anti-Muslim, racist and discriminatory comments and actions by officers based at the central London police station. They all faced fast-track misconduct hearings.
Video showed PC Philip Neilson refer to an immigrant who had overstayed his visa, saying “either put a bullet through his head or deport him”, his fast-track hearing in south London was told on Thursday.
PC Martin Borg “revelled in the use of force on detainees” and told colleagues he joined the police to take part in “legal f****** scraps”, his hearing was told.
He gloated and laughed about seeing another officer, a sergeant, using excess force and injuring a detainee.
The programme also showed PC Borg, attached to Central West Command Unit, making rude and Islamophobic comments about detainees and members of the public.
While Sgt McIlvenny, attached to Met Detention, trivialised and mocked the account of a rape victim in conversation with another officer in the footage.
He was also seen advising a member of staff to not speak about use of force in front of custody suite cameras, making misogynistic and inappropriate comments about a female detainee and making grossly offensive remarks about a woman he encountered.
The three disgraced officers today claimed they were “groomed” and “provoked” by the reporter, that the comments lacked context, the secret footage breached their rights to privacy, and the misconduct process was held with such speed that it lacked rigour.
But they were dismissed at the hearings, with seven more facing similar misconduct probes in the coming days.
Commander Jason Prins, chairing the misconduct panel in south London, said McIlvenny, Neilson and Borg “caused significant harm to the reputation of the Met”
He said: “The public would not expect the serving officer to behave in this way.”
James Berry KC, representing the Met, told the hearings the officers exhibited “thoroughly reprehensible, disgraceful” conduct.
He said it was “difficult to overstate the damage” that the officers' conduct has done to the Met.
Commander Simon Messinger from the Met said: “Following the shocking and appalling behaviour shown on Panorama we were extremely clear where there was incontrovertible evidence we would hold misconduct hearings at the very earliest opportunity. It has seen three officers dismissed today for their disgraceful conduct.”
