Croydon police officer who used ‘Romanian’ trick on sacked Met colleague

A Croydon police officer who called his colleague “a Romanian bastard” as he tried to help her with her computer has been kicked out of the force.

A misconduct panel heard that PC Huw Harris, a responding officer at Croydon police station, made the remark to PC Oana Girboan on September 6, 2022, while struggling with technology.

When she said she would complain about the comments, he replied: “No one will believe you.”

In mitigation, PC Harris told the panel the comment was an attempt at misguided humor and he was genuinely sorry.

He said the pair worked well together and that other members of the team, but not PC Girboan, had previously jokingly called him a “posh” or “Welsh t**t”.

Ruling, the commission said: “PC Harris made this comment on the spur of the moment without any real consideration of what he was going to say.

“However, the panel also found that, given his training as a police officer and his apparent awareness that such a comment would amount to offensive, racist language, he should have refrained from using a such language, however spontaneous.”

She added that while profanity was common at Croydon police station, including the use of the word “c**t”, the “racist slur” was “particularly offensive”.

The hearing was told that PC Girboan had received disciplinary action for the alleged comments to PC Harris.

While making no finding on these allegations, the jury found the claim had “little relevance when PC Harris admitted to using offensive and discriminatory language”.

The officer, who has worked in the Met Police since 2018, was dismissed without notice.

The panel said the decision was a matter of “great regret” as it had heard evidence attesting to his “clear qualities” as a police officer, but that a lesser penalty would undermine confidence in the police.