The Metropolitan Black Police Association chairman was dismissed due to gross misconduct. He exchanged thousands of racist, misogynist and homophobic WhatsApp messages with his colleague.
At a misconduct hearing held last week, Inspector Charles Ehikioya was accused of sending messages that were “disgraceful”.
Inspector Ehikioya claimed that the messages had been “somehow planted with a racist purpose” due to his support of minorities within the force. However, the panel ruled that it was “intentional and deliberately”.
Hearing said that his actions undermined the public’s confidence in police, especially in light of 2023 Review by Baroness Casey which found evidence of WhatsApp Groups sharing racist and misogynistic messages.
The messages sent between 2017-2020 mocked Muslims and Chinese people as well as women and the disabled daughter of Katie Price.
One of the photos included Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy. The caption read: “Message from other side. Tell the Muslims that there are no more 72 virgins”.
A second message sent by PC Carlo Francisco to Ehikioya showed a person wearing a mask that looked like Harvey Price, snorting cocaine. Other memes used racist and homophobic terms as well as racist and sexually explicit comments.
Nicholas Yeo, who represents Ehikioya said that his client was subjected to racism in messages by colleagues. These included references to cotton picking, wicker baskets, and chains.
Yeo stated that these terms are “intrinsically related” to slavery in US history and that “a vile, racist” group including PC Francisco wants to do Inspector Ehikoyia a great deal of harm “for no other reason but his race”.
Francisco’s phone had been seized after a female community support officer complained about the WhatsApp messages he sent. Francisco was found guilty in 2023 of misconduct after being dismissed for an unrelated issue in July 2022.
The panel determined that Inspector Ehikioya violated standards for equality and diversity and discreditable behavior, as well as challenging and reporting inappropriate conduct. He was fired without notice.
In a statement to the media after his dismissal, Ehikioya stated: “I think this result was manipulated in order to get a verdict against me. It is also part of a deliberate effort to damage my reputation.”
The process has been flawed from the beginning and I can see that this is an attempt to silence me in my fight against racism within [the Metropolitan Police Service].
He said the case was just “the latest of a long line of black officers who have been disproportionately scrutinised, and penalised”. He plans to appeal the ruling.
Met Police spokesperson said that the force is “confident” this case did not involve disproportionality.
They added, “However we know its presence in the wider misconduct system remains a real worry for officers and staff from minority ethnic backgrounds, especially those who are black or have other minorities as their heritage.”
Commander Jason Prins who conducted the misconduct hearing said: “The panel determined that the messages received or sent by Insp. Ehikioya, which he did not report or challenge, have a profound impact on public confidence in police services.”
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