A Met Police officer has been sacked for gross misconduct over behaviour filmed in an undercover report by BBC Panorama.
Police Sergeant Clayton Robinson, based at Charing Cross police station in central London, was dismissed with immediate effect following an Accelerated Misconduct Hearing on Tuesday.
The hearing was told that Robinson “trivialised the allegation” of a woman during a rape investigation and “mocked the victim” by singing a song with another officer.
Robinson is the fifth officer based at the station to be sacked after being secretly filmed in the programme. He denied he had breached the Met’s standards of professional behaviour, but the hearing found the case against him proven.
Robinson denied the two allegations of gross misconduct but accepted he had made the comments which appeared in the Panorama film.
He said: “I was not trivialising the allegation, and I was not mocking the victim.”
Robinson told the hearing he had been concerned one of the suspects in the case may have been wrongfully detained due to “inadequacies in the case” during the arrest.
He said he had been questioning the officer in the case “to make sure there are grounds to keep this person in custody”.
He argued the footage aired was only an edited snapshot of the conversation he was having about the case and issues over the suspect’s detention.
The misconduct hearing was played unedited footage from Panorama which showed him talking to the arresting officer about the victim in the case.
The arrested officer told Robinson about a rape allegation where a woman said she had woken up without trousers on and did not remember taking them off.
Robinson is heard saying: “I’ve got to be honest, I’ve gone to bed before and can’t remember taking my trousers off”.
Later, in conversation with another officer, he was heard questioning the victim’s allegation and her ability to identify her attacker.
In the footage, Robinson said: “I mean, one of them might be orange with green hair and obviously it’s him.”
Another officer then asks, “like an Oompa Loompa?” and Robinson then says “yeah” before laughing and then singing an excerpt from the Oompa Loompa song from the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with the other officer.
In his defence, Robinson was taken through CCTV from the custody suite and raw unedited footage recorded by the BBC undercover reporter.
Referring to his comments in the footage, he said: “There was a concern that something has gone a little bit wrong. There are inadequacies in the case.
“I’m certainly not mocking anybody. I’m trying to get to the bottom of what’s gone on.”
He added: “I’m not trying to deny a rape has taken place. I’m trying to confirm, I think a rape has taken place.”
He said his comments were out of “frustration” at the process and the arresting officers in the case, who he had believed had made mistakes.
When asked about the comments referring to an Oompa Loompa and the singing, he said they were made in reference to another custody officer and making light of his height.
Chair of the panel Commander Andy Brittain found both allegations against Robinson as proven.
He said: “The public cannot have confidence in PS Robinson to protect them and others. This behaviour is not compatible with the role of a police officer.”
In a statement following the hearing, Met Police professionalism Commander Simon Messinger said Robinson’s behaviour was “appalling.”
“It is absolutely right he is dismissed and no longer part of our organisation,” he added.
Four other Met police officers were sacked last week for conduct revealed by the BBC Panorama programme.
PC Jason Sinclair-Birt was dismissed on Friday after being secretly filmed “boasting about and revelling in the use of force” on a detainee.
A day earlier, Sgt Joe McIlvenny, PC Philip Neilson and PC Martin Borg were dismissed after allegations of gross misconduct were upheld.
McIlvenny was filmed being dismissive about a pregnant woman’s allegation of rape and domestic violence against her partner and making misogynistic comments.
Neilson was recorded referring to an “invasion” of “scum” from the Middle East, and made offensive comments about people from Algeria and Somalia.
He was also observed saying a detainee who had overstayed his visa should have a “bullet through his head”.
Borg was filmed enthusiastically describing how he saw another officer stomp on a suspect’s leg in custody.
Another five officers are set to face hearings as part of the Met’s accelerated misconduct proceedings over footage from the Panorama investigation.
