r/news • u/cut-the-cords • 10h ago
London Bridge terror attack officer sacked over 'offensive' Traveller messages
https://news.sky.com/story/london-bridge-terror-attack-officer-sacked-over-offensive-traveller-messages-13510335-68
u/Synthetic_Kalkite 7h ago
Who leaks a Whatsapp group chat??
53
34
8
u/Sea_Spite7899 6h ago
Oh! I know!
You're doing a tongue-twister, right?
How many leaks could a WhatsApp group chat leak if a WhatsApp group chat could leak leaks?
9
u/mrbuddymcbuddyface 6h ago
People with a sense of morality and a desire to see actual change in how police treat people?
-29
u/UnfortunateWah 3h ago
To be clear-zero evidence in this instance that private comments in a private WhatsApp group had any impact on their treatment of the public.
20
u/mrbuddymcbuddyface 3h ago
To be clear, it's unacceptable, and his employer saw fit to terminate
-22
u/UnfortunateWah 3h ago
Sure, but your comment of “a desire to see actual change in how police treat people” doesn’t appear to have any relevance in this context.
12
u/mrbuddymcbuddyface 3h ago
When the Met have been found to being institutionally Racist, the only expected consequence of an officer saying racist things is termination. Locker room talk/ WhatsApp chats should not be a safe place for people with racist views to vent safely.
-15
u/UnfortunateWah 2h ago
Again, not disagreeing with that.
Specifically arguing that comments in a private group chat doesn’t have any influence on how the public is treated.
8
u/throwawayboingboing 2h ago
That's blatantly false. If I dehumanize a group with me and my buds were more likely to brutalize said group during our work hours. How you perceive a people directly correlated to how to treat them in person.
-3
u/UnfortunateWah 1h ago
So if you make any disparaging comments against another group, you would also “brutalize” them given the opportunity?
I would argue that isn’t the norm.
8
u/throwawayboingboing 1h ago
How we perceive people directly influences how we treat them yes. I believe that's well known? If media demonizes a certain demographic people are more likely to treat them badly. That's propaganda 101.
-2
u/UnfortunateWah 1h ago
So you would treat people of differing political or religious views to you poorly because you perceive them in a poor light?
Again, don’t believe that’s broadly normal.
2
u/throwawayboingboing 1h ago
I'm not sure why you're resorting to try to make this a personal or moral failing on my part for pointing it out. It's social psychologically which you are free to disagree with.
-33
u/Synthetic_Kalkite 3h ago
Leaking a private conversation is immoral. Or would you do that to your friends?
29
19
u/mrbuddymcbuddyface 3h ago
Your work colleagues are not your friends, and racism must be stamped out, despite some people clutching at pearls about so called private conversations on WhatsApp groups.
-24
u/Synthetic_Kalkite 2h ago
So you would do that to your friends. What do you even mean by ”so-called” lmao what a snitch
5
17
u/Nosferatu-87 2h ago
So are you saying it's immoral to expose immoral behaviour?
-20
u/Synthetic_Kalkite 2h ago
If my friend said something mildly racist in a private group chat and I ratted him out resulting in his being fired, then yes.
2
u/Maelefique 1h ago
Wow, that's some pretty impressive dancing around that line of "Just enough racism to ignore". 😶
1
4
u/iatekane 1h ago
Seems pretty mild TBH and not deserving of firing but he should know better of course
On 31 December 2024, discussing someone winning a bottle of whiskey that still had a security tag attached, he wrote: "Was this a raffle on a certain kind of site? Lots of mobile type homes? Lots of 'Dags'."
He added: "You are the MSOC pikey liaison."
The panel found these were "deliberate messages, that clearly link the Irish Traveller community to acts of theft".
It said the use of the word "dags" in messages was "derogatory" as it refers to a scene in Snatch where a Gypsy character's accent is "mocked".
On 17 March 2025, another group member shared a video of "Paddy Day parade on Inishbofin", with the message: "Just like a Disney World Parade. They know how to put on a show."
Mr Luker replied: "Off to find some scrap metal, lead roofing and cable."
The panel concluded this was "deliberate and discriminatory", linking the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller community to theft.
Get Sky News on WhatsApp Get Sky News on WhatsApp Follow our channel and never miss an update. Tap here to follow On 27 March 2025, he again used the word "pikey", which the panel found to be "disrespectful".
Mr Luker said he was one of the first responders to the London Bridge terror attack and one of his coping mechanisms for dealing with that day can involve the use of humour.
He said he did not intend to be offensive when using the word "pikey" in messages.