A group of Greater Manchester Police officers mimicked and mocked the accent of a black female colleague at work then laughed about it, a misconduct hearing was told. It was said to have left the PC feeling 'upset and uncomfortable'.
The allegations, claim the force, involved 'unwanted, offensive, racist and disrespectful' language and behaviour.
One, a sergeant, is said to have compared a photograph of a female fraud suspect with curly hair and thick glasses to the PC's mother. The hearing was also told a PC described the officer's braided hair as 'looking like a mop' before smiling at her and walking away.
Allegations against nine officers
Named only as Pc Y, the alleged victim was born in Africa, but speaks fluent English. She joined GMP as a response officer based at Bury police station in May, 2019.
The allegations against seven serving officers and two now former officers were made on November 1, 2023. All were based at Bury at the time.
Counsel for GMP, Steven Reed, said in an opening address to the hearing there were three 'broad areas' in terms of the allegations.
"There are allegations that the officers mimicked and mocked her accent," Mr Reed said. "Allegations of offensive comments about her appearance and comparisons between her and a suspect involved in a criminal investigation, which was a comparison based, at least in part, on the colour of their skin."
He said if proven, the allegations amount to gross misconduct.
Accent mimicking 'commonplace'
Mr Reed said PC Y acknowledges she does have an African 'accent' when she speaks English. He said she worked in the same team as PC Heena Rani and PC Lucy Granby and they would 'mimic her accent' in the office.
"This took the form of mimicking how she would pronounce certain words such as hello," Mr Reed said. "The mimicking became commonplace and is described as occurring on most days."
The misconduct hearing was told they repeated the words she said and copied her accent. Her pronunciation of the word 'okay' was also mocked, the hearing was told.
"It was clear to PC Y that PC Granby and PC Rani thought the misconduct was funny," Mr Reed said. "Understandablely, she did not like being laughed at because of her accent and this caused her to feel uncomfortable."
The hearing was told both officers later apologised to PC Y, but it's claimed they continued to mimic and mock her accent.
Mr Reed said she claims former PC Jake Holt, PC Matthew Barlow, PC Matthew Hill, PC Demi Green were 'all involved in the mimicking of her accent'.
A second former PC, known only as 'former officer A', was also said to have 'joined in', but was 'less involved than the others'.
PC Y gives evidence
PC Y said the behaviour only occurred when the officers were in a group, the hearing was told, and didn't occur during 'one to one conversations'.
Mr Reed said the complainant claimed her laugh was also mocked and imitated, and three of the officers would do it 'whenever they were in her presence' and 'everytime they walked past her'.
Sergeant Adrian Bick, said Mr Reed, made the comment comparing the image of the suspect to PC Y's mother to PC Green. She reported it to PC Y and 'laughed about it', said the barrister.
"PC Y believes the comparison was made by Sgt Bick was in part at least because of the shared skin colour," Mr Reed said. He said the comment was 'unwanted, offensive, racist and disrespectful'.
PC Mohammed Abid was said to have made a comment towards PC Y about her hair, describing it as 'looking like a mop, before smiling and walking away from her'. He denies making any comment about her hair and describes it as a 'false allegation', the hearing was told.
Giving evidence via a video link to the hearing PC Y, a mum, said she didn't think it was funny.
Asked how the alleged mimicking made her feel, she said: "It was quite upsetting. It made me uncomfortable, nervous, quite anxious as well. I may have laughed - I tend to laugh when I am feeling those things.
"If I am uncomfortable or nervous - I just laugh. It is something I do as a standard reaction. It was upsetting, I did not like it, definitely. As things got worse, I tended to be quiet about it. It was definitely uncomfortable."
She said the mimicking was occurring everyday. "They would copy whatever I said then they would laugh about it," PC Y added, agreeing with Mr Reed that she felt she was being 'bullied' by the alleged mimicking. She added that she has since been 'quite stressed' and had been diagnosed with high blood pressure.
All the officers - who have been suspended since the allegations emerged - deny breaches of standards of professional behaviour, misconduct or gross misconduct. GMP said that if proven jointly or separately, the allegations amount to gross misconduct.
The hearing, chaired by Assistant Chief Officer Jonathan Roy, is set to continue until September 9.
