London Bridge attack hero Mark Luker sacked by police for using ‘p*key’ slur
A police officer who was among the first to arrive at the 2017 London Bridge terror attack has been dismissed for gross misconduct.
British Transport Police Detective Mark Luker used the word “p*key” in WhatsApp messages about Gypsies, Roma and Travellers.
In one of his messages, he used the term “dags” in reference to the movie. snatchingAn abuse panel heard a story in which one character struggled to understand another’s accent when talking about dogs.
In another message to the panel he was told he referred to “scrap metal, lead roofing and cable” and admitted this was a joke to associate the Irish Traveler community with theft.
The panel concluded that Mr Luker likely knew that the language was “offensive” to a minority community and ruled this constituted gross misconduct.
The panel heard the officer was a member of a WhatsApp group called ‘Selbie Gumshoes’ along with other members of the Major Serious and Organized Crime (MSOC) team.
On December 31, 2024, during a conversation about someone winning a bottle of whiskey with a security label still attached, he wrote: “Was this a raffle on a particular site? Lots of mobile type homes? Lots of ‘Dags’,” he told the panel.
He then added: “You are MSOC’s p*main contact.”
The panel found these were “deliberate messages clearly linking the Irish Traveler community to acts of theft”.
It was stated that the use of the word “dags” in the messages was “derogatory” because it referred to a scene. snatching where a Gypsy character’s accent is “mocked”.
On March 17, 2025, another group member shared a video of “Paddy Day parade at Inishbofin” with the message: “It’s just like the Disney World Parade. They know how to put on a show,” the panel heard.
Mr Luker replied: The panel was told he “went to find scrap metal, lead roofing and cables”.
The panel concluded that associating the Gypsy, Roma and Traveler community with theft was “deliberate and discriminatory”.
On March 27, 2025, he used the word “p*key” again, which the board found “disrespectful.”
Mr Luker said he was one of the first responders to the terrorist attack on London Bridge in 2017 and that one of his coping mechanisms for the day could include the use of humour.
He said he did not intend the word “p*key” in the messages to be offensive.
The panel accepted that DC Luker was not “inherently racist”.
But he wrote: “As an experienced BTP police officer dealt with a wide range of people, the panel found that he knew, on the balance of probabilities, that this was a particularly offensive use of language, possibly directed at members of a minority community.”
