By Francesca Hangeior

The Metropolitan Police Service of the United Kingdom has dismissed a Nigerian-British officer, Shola Balogun of Bromley Police Station, for biting a colleague (name withheld) at a birthday party in Bexleyheath, Kent.

This was disclosed in a hearing that was held from October 21-23, 2024, and chaired by a high-ranking officer, Christopher McKay, with IPM Amanda Harvey and Assessor-Detective Superintendent, Kirsty Mead as the panel members.

The document of the hearing notice sighted by our correspondent revealed that Balogun, a Police Constable, had attended a 40th birthday party of another police officer with about 70 other persons in attendance at Goals Sports Bar, stressing that he and the officer (victim) were the two police officers present at the event aside from the celebrant.

The document also explained that the incident happened on April 22, 2022, as a result of a light-hearted horseplay between them in the past but with no significant falling out.

It read, “On the 22nd of April 2022 about 70 people attended a 40th birthday party for a police officer at Goals Sports Bar in Bexleyheath, Kent. Among those attending were members of her work team, ERT C, who were based at Bromley Police Station. PC Shola Balogun and PC (name withheld) were two of those police officers who were present at the party. The officers knew each other well as work colleagues, having been based at Bromley Police Station together since June 2018.

“There had been light-hearted horseplay between them in the past but no significant falling out. Both describe a good friendly working relationship. The victim said he arrived at the party at about 9 pm after meeting other officers in a nearby pub. PC Balogun arrived after the victim and he admitted that had been drinking alcohol before his arrival. There is a dispute about the incidents that took place between them during that evening.

“The victim says that at around 23.30 he walked up a flight of stairs from the dancefloor and found PC Balogun in front of him. PC Balogun was about an arms-length away when he reached out and grabbed the victim’s spectacles off his face and dropped them on the floor. This surprised the victim and he claimed to have then approached PC Balogun in a friendly manner whereupon PC Balogun responded by pushing him with his right hand to the victim’s throat area. When the victim then complained about PC Balogun’s actions in a conversation at a time when they were only a foot apart because the music was so loud, PC Balogun is alleged to have leaned forward and bitten the victim on the right side of his face.”

However, Balogun’s account of the event was different from that of the victim as he claimed to have only knocked the victim’s glasses off by accident.

He also denied pushing the victim or biting him in the face as alleged but medical reports and diagnosis revealed that the victim was bitten.

The findings in the document read, “The Regulation 30 Notice alleges that by acting in the way described PC Balogun brought discredit to the police service and undermined public trust in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). This is alleged to have been a breach of the standard of Discreditable Conduct.

“Discreditable Conduct is explained in the College of Policing Code of Ethics as not behaving in a manner, whether on or off duty, which brings discredit to the police service or undermines public confidence in policing. This is further explained as being a requirement that police officers must keep in mind at all times that the public expects police officers to maintain the highest standards of behaviour. Police officers are instructed to always think about how a member of the public may regard their behaviour, whether on or off duty. The Panel is satisfied that PC Balogun breached this standard by biting the victim. Assaulting a fellow officer is clearly unacceptable and discreditable behaviour.

Meanwhile, the panel claimed to have spoken to people including an inspector who had been his line manager for close to five years about Balogun’s behavioural history and they all spoke highly of him and his qualities as a police officer, adding, “To counter-balance the evidence of his good character the Panel has received evidence of his previous disciplinary history.”

“The Panel bears in mind the words of Lord Justice Maurice Kay in the well-known case of Salter v Chief Constable of Dorset [2012] EWCA Civ 1047 when he said, ”As to personal mitigation, just as an unexpectedly errant solicitor can usually refer to an unblemished past and the esteem of his colleagues, so will a police officer often be able so to do. However, because of the importance of public confidence, the potential of such mitigation is necessarily limited.”

The panel further agreed on dismissal without notice as the outcome of Balogun’s action.

“In the present case, PC Balogun does not have an unblemished past and the previous misconduct proved against him is serious. In the present case, he committed a deliberate assault on a colleague without any explanation or justification. He humiliated PC Final Written Warning is not appropriate in this case. The only appropriate and proportionate outcome in this case is Dismissal Without Notice,” the document added.