Shola Balogun, a Nigerian-British officer from Bromley Police Station, has been dismissed by the Metropolitan Police Service in the UK for allegedly biting a colleague at a birthday party in Bexleyheath, Kent.
This was revealed during a hearing from October 21 to 23, 2024 chaired by high-ranking officer Christopher McKay, with panel members IPM Amanda Harvey and Assessor-Detective Superintendent Kirsty Mead.
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 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 reads: “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.”
While Balogun denied biting the victim and claimed that removing the glasses was accidental, medical reports confirmed that the victim had sustained a bite wound.
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 panel ruled that Balogun’s actions violated police standards, particularly the Discreditable Conduct section of the College of Policing Code of Ethics, which stresses the importance of maintaining public confidence. Despite receiving positive character references from colleagues, including his inspector, the panel concluded that Balogun’s prior disciplinary history and the severity of the incident justified his dismissal without notice.
The panel noted that “the only appropriate and proportionate outcome in this case is Dismissal Without Notice.
“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.
“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.”
