Three Metropolitan Police officers have been dismissed from Britain’s busiest police station after an undercover BBC investigation exposed their racist, misogynistic and violent behaviour towards detainees and members of the public.
Sergeant Joseph McIlvenny, PC Martin Borg and PC Phillip Neilson were sacked from Charing Cross police station on Thursday following accelerated gross misconduct hearings. The officers were found to have breached professional standards in conduct described as “shocking and appalling” by senior commanders.
The dismissals came just three weeks after a BBC Panorama documentary broadcast secretly filmed footage showing the officers making discriminatory remarks, boasting about violence against suspects and mocking victims of serious crimes. All three have been barred from rejoining the police force or working for related bodies.
Commander Simon Messinger, head of professionalism at the Metropolitan Police, 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.”
The investigation centred on footage obtained by an undercover BBC journalist who worked as a designated detention officer at Charing Cross between August 2024 and January 2025. The recordings captured officers engaging in conversations that hearing chairman Commander Jason Prins described as “abhorrent”.
PC Neilson faced allegations including describing Somalians as “scum” and making reference to “an invasion” of the UK by migrants. In the most disturbing footage, he was recorded suggesting migrants should be shot, stating: “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.”
James Berry KC, representing the appropriate authority, told the hearing that PC Neilson admitted the remarks were inappropriate and made whilst intoxicated, but denied being racist. The officer claimed the undercover reporter had “breached his human rights” by “bringing up the conversations.
The hearing was told PC Neilson also boasted about using pressure points on a juvenile detainee whilst transporting him in a police van. Mr Berry said the officer was “glorifying the use of inappropriate force on a restrained detainee, whether or not the force was in fact used”, adding that PC Neilson was “laughing and smirking throughout”.
PC Borg was found to have “revelled in the use of force on detainees”, expressing amusement about witnessing a sergeant using excessive force to cause injury to a prisoner. He described how the detainee had developed a lump on his foot that “looked like a f****** tumour”.
When asked on the Panorama footage who was “the most griefy”, PC Borg replied “Muslims”, before adding: “Islam is a problem, a serious problem, I think.” The officer denied being racist and claimed he was exaggerating when retelling stories about violence. Three other allegations against PC Borg were not proven.
Sergeant McIlvenny was captured trivialising the account of a rape victim, responding “that’s what she says” when told by a colleague about a woman who had been kicked in the stomach whilst pregnant. He also made inappropriate sexual comments about a woman arrested whilst wearing a fancy dress police outfit, saying “awesome” and “I pay money to go to clubs to see women dressed like this”.
The sergeant was additionally recorded describing a woman he encountered as “monstrous”, saying “she f****** fills the door”, and advising a colleague “not to speak about use of force” in front of cameras. Chris Draper, representing Sergeant McIlvenny, argued the clips had been edited so the “context around the comments is lost”.
After the chairman’s finding, Sergeant McIlvenny told the hearing he has 24 years’ service in the police and complained “this decision has been made on a less than 10-minute clip. All three officers had denied the allegations and claimed they were “groomed” and “provoked” by the undercover reporter.
Commander Prins ruled that all allegations against all three officers were proven, stating: “It was or must have been obvious to him that the comments made were abhorrent.”
The dismissals represent the first outcomes in a wider investigation involving ten officers from Charing Cross station. Further accelerated misconduct hearings for five serving officers and a former officer are scheduled for Friday and next week.
IOPC Director Amanda Rowe said: “The behaviour of these three officers and the discriminatory comments made, including misogynistic, Islamophobic and racist remarks, were inexcusable. As so many of us saw following the BBC broadcast, the evidence against PS Joe McIlvenny, PC Martin Borg and PC Philip Neilson was incontrovertible.”
She added: “The behaviour of these officers, and its exposure, has damaged the public’s trust in the Met. Not only have they let down the public, but also the good officers who show up every day to serve Londoners. It is right that they have been quickly held to account, dismissed and barred from policing.”
The Metropolitan Police has disbanded the entire custody team at Charing Cross and made changes to local leadership in response to the scandal. Commander Messinger said: “Wider work continues to identify any other areas of concern in detention teams across the Met. We are unrelenting in our drive to achieve the highest of standards across the Met.”
Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley had responded swiftly when the allegations first emerged, describing the behaviour as “appalling” and “criminal”. He said officers acting in such ways “let down our communities and will cause some to question if their sons and daughters are safe in our cells, and whether they would be believed and respected as victims of crime.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer condemned the footage when it first aired, stating: “I’ve not yet seen the footage, but I’ve had it described to me, and it’s shocking. I’m glad the commissioner is responding. He needs to be very robust in his response.”
The scandal represents another crisis for Britain’s largest police force, which has been attempting to rebuild public trust following a series of high-profile cases including the murder of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens and the unmasking of serial rapist David Carrick, who targeted victims over nearly 20 years whilst serving with the Met.
Sir Mark has previously stated the force is conducting “the biggest corruption clear-out in British policing history”, with 11 officers and staff being forced out each week, more than triple the previous rate. The IOPC investigation into the wider allegations at Charing Cross continues.
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