Met chief Sir Mark Rowley goes to battle with the BBC over Panorama exposé of shamed police station – after fourth officer is sacked for misconduct

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has been ridiculed for co-operating with BBC investigations into police officers who were filmed making grossly offensive comments by an undercover Panorama reporter.

Earlier this month the broadcaster aired Panorama: Police Undercover, which exposed racist and discriminatory comments and actions by officers at Charing Cross police station.

Four of these were dismissed in specially expedited hearings conducted by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC); More are expected to be brought to trial in the coming days.

But Sir Mark today issued a statement blaming the BBC for delays that have disrupted some of the planned hearings and claimed its co-operation had ‘fallen short’.

The commissioner first emphasized his gratitude for the broadcaster’s journalism, which ‘has exposed the appalling behavior of some police officers who are currently undergoing misconduct proceedings’.

But he then went on to complain that the BBC had sent unpublished footage of its undercover investigation to the IOPC only yesterday, despite ‘repeated requests’.

This ‘late disclosure’ allowed adjournment applications which halted misconduct hearings of other officers in relation to the Panorama findings.

‘Whilst adjournments are standard to ensure that every hearing can fairly consider all available evidence, it is extremely frustrating to be in this situation,’ he added.

He went on to explain how the Met worked with the IOPC ‘to schedule hearings less than a month after broadcast’; this was a ‘commitment’ in response to the public’s expectation that the officers in question would be dealt with ‘expeditiously’.

Sir Mark continued: ‘The BBC’s actions, which were supposed to be acting in the public interest, added unnecessary complexity to what was already a bureaucratic, complex and highly legal system of misconduct for the police.

‘Hearings will be rescheduled by the presidents at the earliest opportunity.’

Responding to his comments, a BBC spokesperson told the Daily Mail: ‘We are pleased to see the Met recognizes the value of Panorama journalism and we are actively working to assist the IOPC.’

The IOPC’s response suggested there were no concerns about the Beeb and its co-operation with their investigation.

An IOPC spokesperson told the Daily Mail: ‘We are aware of the Met’s decision to postpone some of the expedited misconduct hearings following our investigation into the conduct of officers at Charing Cross and we look forward to new dates on these matters.

‘From the beginning of our investigation we have been in constant contact with the BBC to request footage relevant to our investigation.

‘We are grateful to have recently been provided with further material by the BBC which we are reviewing as part of our ongoing investigation.’

Four Met Police officers based in the Panorama section of Charing Cross police station have been suspended in the last two days.

Experienced custody manager sergeant Joe McIlvenny and constables Phil Neilson and Martin Borg were sacked without notice yesterday after they were found to have committed gross misconduct for ‘disgusting’ behaviour.

And PC Jason Sinclair-Birt, who boasted and enjoyed using force on a prisoner, was dismissed today at an expedited misconduct hearing in south London.

But James Berry KC, for the authority, said the officer did not use the excessive force he described, did not draw his baton and later said he had embellished an account of a previous incident for ‘comic effect’.

PC Sinclair-Birt (pictured) said he ‘blew the back of his head off’ [a detainee’s] ‘The legs are trying to bring him down’

President Commander Jason Prins said he was satisfied the breach of conduct amounted to gross misconduct and PC Sinclair-Birt was dismissed without notice.

Commander Prins said: ‘The officer chose to share a fake account that enjoyed the use of excessive force. In my view, the false statement had to be taken at face value.’

Mr Berry said the authority’s allegation against PC Sinclair-Birt was that the officer ‘boasted and enjoyed the use of force and what he described as excessive use of force against the prisoner’.

The hearing was told PC Sinclair-Birt denied gross misconduct.

In a conversation with a colleague on the programme, he described a prisoner he was meeting with who said he had been elbowed in the face but “I had the last laugh”. While he was standing in the van wearing a leg brace, Mr Berry said: “I started beating the back of his legs badly.”

The officer was “smiling” as he described this, the hearing was told.

Mr Berry said PC Sinclair-Birt ‘hit him on the back of the legs trying to get him to the ground’.

The hearing was told that the police officer laughed and said ‘I have no complaints’, then said in a sarcastic tone: ‘Oh, it was police brutality’.

PC Sinclair-Birt said on the program there were “five or six blows to his damn legs”, before adding “it wasn’t a good look” and “there’s definitely some red mist there”.

The officer he spoke to said he was sure PC Sinclair-Birt could ‘somehow justify it’, and at the hearing he responded: ‘Apparently I did.’

Mr Berry told the hearing that PC Sinclair-Birt’s response to the allegation was that “these were empty words and not a true account” and that he embellished a narrative that took place in 2022 for “comedy effect”.

Mr Berry added that footage of the encounter in which PC Sinclair-Birt was arguing was played at the hearing and a suspect attacked the officer by head-butting him in the face, adding that the suspect was found guilty of assaulting an emergency worker.

Mr Berry added that PC Sinclair-Birt used ‘lawful’ force and never used his baton during the incident.

Sergeant Joe McIlvenny (pictured) was sacked after 24 years of service after he was found to have repeatedly made extremely offensive and misogynistic comments on Panorama: Secret Police.

Mr Berry said the comments were “intended as humour, in the context of an informal conversation with colleagues” and that PC Sinclair-Birt had used “dark humor as a coping strategy”.

He added: ‘I am happy to confirm that he did not use the excessive force he described, nor did he even draw his baton.’

But Mr Berry said PC Sinclair-Birt had made a statement to colleagues ‘that only appeared quite credible’.

Mr Berry said PC Sinclair-Birt ‘glorified, boasted and enjoyed the use of force’.

PC Sinclair-Birt, giving evidence, was asked if he wanted the conversation to be taken at face value and he said “absolutely not”.

McIlvenny was sacked after 24 years of service after he was found to have repeatedly made extremely offensive and misogynistic comments in Panorama: Police Undercover.

The footage shows a rape victim ‘trivialising and ridiculing’ her relationship with a colleague and comparing a female prisoner wearing a fancy dress police outfit to ‘the kind of women he would pay to see in nightclubs’.

He was also caught on camera ‘talking graphically about sexual issues in the workplace’ and one woman being overweight.

McIlvenny laughed as he told undercover reporter Rory Bibb not to discuss the use of force on detainees in areas within the station where he could be overheard or captured by cameras.

McIlvenny said his comments had been ‘taken out of context’ and ‘heavily edited’, that he had been diagnosed with work-related PTSD, but that he was not insensitive to rape complainants.

Former colleague Neilson was sacked after four years after facing allegations that he had made ‘deeply racist remarks’ and ‘glorified’ what he described as the inappropriate use of force against a prisoner.

In the documentary, Neilson was in the bar claiming that Middle Eastern people were ‘scum’.

In another clip, Neilson said the way to deal with a detainee whose visa had expired was to ‘put a bullet in his head or deport him’ and ‘fuck those who raped women and make them bleed’.

Neilson said he was “provoked” by the undercover reporter’s “incessant” questioning, was tempted to drink up to nine pints of Guinness and made “misguided attempts at bravado”.

He denied being a racist or holding discriminatory views, adding: ‘I treat everyone with respect.’

Borg was also sacked six years later after it was revealed he had ‘enjoyed’ the use of force and made discriminatory remarks about Muslims.

PC Phil Neilson (pictured) was sacked four years after facing allegations that he made ‘deeply racist remarks’ and ‘glorified’ what he described as the inappropriate use of force against a detainee.

PC Martin Borg (pictured) was also sacked six years after he was found to have ‘enjoyed’ the use of force and made discriminatory remarks about Muslims.

In the footage, Borg can be seen claiming that ‘Islam is a problem, a serious problem’ while going to a bar.

He also told the undercover officer that he ‘enjoyed’ obtaining ‘junk’.

Borg accused the BBC reporter of “grooming” him “over months”, but said there was nothing wrong with calling someone out using abusive language if it was done in private rather than on the job.

Mr Berry said the Met had made ‘very significant efforts’ to tackle racism, sexism and misogyny over the past three years.

He said: ‘The messaging, both internally and externally, has been very clear that sexism, misogyny and racism are not tolerated at MPS.

‘No officer in the MPS in 2024 or 2025 could have the slightest doubt about this.’

That work was ‘significantly undermined’ by the officers’ behavior, he said.

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has made it his personal challenge to clean up the country’s largest police force, getting rid of nearly 1,500 officers in the three years since he took office.

The Met said the entire Charing Cross custody team has been disbanded while the investigation continues.