Met Police officer sacked over podcast criticism

Metropolitan Police officer PC Idominik Efeotor has been dismissed without notice following an accelerated gross misconduct hearing. He was found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour through social media posts criticising the force and its Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS), and for publishing material that could have identified an officer under an anonymity direction.

Criticism of the Force

PC Efeotor published video content about his experiences as a black police officer via his podcast 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'. In these videos, he described the Met as corrupt and called colleagues "liars", "wastemen" and "batty holes". He also referred to the DPS as "absolute wastemen and that cesspit", and a DPS officer as a "batty hole liar". He frequently used the phrase "Bun the DPS", meaning to disregard or reject them. Nasreen Shah, representing the Met, stated at the hearing that Efeotor "publicly encouraged others not to trust certain officers" and "expressed contempt towards the DPS". She added that he "used derogatory language towards officers and police staff and published content which was capable of undermining confidence in the police service on multiple occasions", also breaking the force's social media policy.

Anonymity Breach

In May 2025, PC Efeotor published a TikTok video discussing a separate misconduct case. During this video, he displayed the image of an officer who had been anonymised in those proceedings, sarcastically stating words to the effect of "This is not the officer I'm talking about". The hearing was told he had since taken the video down.

Defence Arguments

Representing PC Efeotor, Lawrence Davies, director of Equal Justice Solicitors, argued that his client's comments had been taken out of context. He highlighted that only 1% of his podcast was critical, with the rest being a "fantastic and innovative way to improve recruitment and retention of black officers". The defence noted the podcast had been shortlisted for two awards: the Multicultural Business and Community Champion (MBCC) Awards and the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) Awards, for its contribution to diversity. Davies also cited freedom of speech and stated there was no evidence of anyone complaining about the content, presenting 22 character references from listeners who found the podcast positive. He further argued the force was institutionally racist, referencing reports including the Casey Review.

Ruling and Reaction

Commander Colin Wingrove, chairing the hearing, stated that Efeotor had "chosen to use a platform to criticise and insult serving colleagues, which is likely to undermine the confidence that the public have in the police service." He concluded that Efeotor's behaviour had fallen short of the professional standards expected of a serving police officer. Following the decision, Davies described it as a "travesty of justice" and "another example of a black officer being retaliated against for speaking up", announcing an intention to appeal at the employment tribunal. PC Efeotor stated he was "not surprised" and that this was the consequence of "standing up for yourself and stand up for people that can't speak for themselves", adding that "people who have done things far worse than what I've done, who are still employed by the Met. They just happen to have lighter skin."

Commander Adam Slonecki, head of Specialist Operations, released a statement saying officers are aware of social media expectations and that PC Efeotor had breached standards on multiple occasions despite warnings. He added that such behaviour "undermines public confidence in the Met, but it had a harmful and lasting impact on those he openly criticised, as well as the rest of his colleagues."