Head of Metropolitan Police's black officers' group dismissed over racist WhatsApp chat
Inspector Charles Ehikioya was found by a misconduct panel to have sent and received messages containing racist messages about Chinese people and jokes about a girl with Down's syndrome.
Saturday 11 January 2025 08:31, UK
A Metropolitan Police inspector has been dismissed for being part of a chat with racist, sexist and inappropriate messages after a misconduct hearing.
A panel in London found on Friday that Inspector Charles Ehikioya had committed gross misconduct over the WhatsApp chat with another officer.
Mr Ehikioya, who is also the full-time chairman of the Metropolitan Black Police Association, "categorically" denies the allegations, and said they were faked or falsely attributed to him by a different officer because of his race and position.
The panel found that between 2017 and 2020, Mr Ehikioya and former officer Carlo Francisco exchanged more than 7,000 messages on WhatsApp.
The inspector had sent an image of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, who died in 2017, with the comment "message from the other side, tell the Muslims there's no 72 virgins left".
James Berry, representing the Met Police, also told the panel that a series of "racist" messages about Chinese people, jokes about a girl with Down's syndrome, and a video containing a child with a naked bottom were also exchanged between the officers.
The panel then heard that Mr Francisco - who the force said was dismissed in July 2022 for "an unrelated matter" involving "discreditable conduct" - was in a separate group chat called "Secret Squirrel Shit" where Mr Ehikioya was the subject of racist comments.
Nicholas Yeo, who represented Mr Ehikioya, said Mr Francisco "was part of a vile, racist group that wanted to do the officer great harm for no reason other than his race," and that Mr Ehikioya may have been targetted for dedicating his life to fighting racism.
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Commander Jason Prins, who led the misconduct panel, said the defence of the allegations was "fanciful" and "far-fetched," and noted Mr Ehikioya "failed to challenge or report" the messages with Mr Francisco.
He added the panel felt the messages sent and received by Mr Ehikioya would "deeply damage public confidence in the police service".
Mr Ehikioya was then dismissed without notice.
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In a statement after the hearing, Mr Ehikioya said he was "dismayed" by the decision, and that he would "explore every available option to challenge this dismissal".
He previously made a formal complaint of racial harassment against the Met Police after he was pulled over by the force's officers in Croydon in 2020.
A later review "found no evidence of misconduct" during the stop.