Wednesday, October 30, 2024 – The Metropolitan Police in the
United Kingdom has sacked an African-British officer, PC Shola
Balogun, for biting a colleague.
The incident happened on April 22 2022 when 70 people turned
up to an officer’s 40th at Goals Sports Bar in Bexleyheath in South East
London.
The hearing heard from a fellow anonymous officer that PC
Shola Balogun showed up “in a ridiculously drunken state.”
During the evening Balogun continued to drink and was
seriously drunk, which was corroborated by other officers.
At around 11.30pm, the officer who was victim to Balogun’s
behaviour was walking up a flight of stairs when he saw Balogun in front of
him. Balogun then took the officer’s glasses off his face and dropped them on
the floor.
The officer responded in a friendly way but Balogun then
pushed him by the throat.
The officer complained about Balogun’s behaviour a short
while after. The two were only a foot apart because the music was so loud.
At this point, Balogun leant forward and bit the officer on
his right cheek.
Balogun denied pushing and biting his colleague but the
panel didn’t believe him, particularly as a medical report found the officer
had a suspected bite mark on their face.
A hearing ruled that PC Shola Balogun’s behaviour was so
severe that a Final Written Warning would not suffice.
The panel said that it ‘is satisfied on the balance of
probabilities that, on April 22 2022, whilst off duty at Goals Bexleyheath, PC
Balogun assaulted PC by biting him’.
