Met officer sacked over offensive tweets about Jewish people, non-Muslims and 9/11

23 October 2024, 18:57 | Updated: 23 October 2024, 18:58

A Metropolitan Police officer has been sacked for posting offensive tweets about Jewish people and non-Muslims.

PC Ruby Begum was found to have committed gross misconduct after she admitted to posting discriminatory language such as "dirty Zionists. Hell is waiting" while serving as a special constable.

The 29-year-old also admitted using the term "kuffar" to refer to non-believers, using a shortened version of Pakistani, and making controversial comments about the September 11 2001 terror attacks.

Around 25,000 posts were made between 2013 and 2019 under the Twitter, now X, username @ruby_beee, the hearing was told.

Ms Begum denied gross misconduct and said her comments - which she agreed could be deemed discriminatory - amounted to simple misconduct and a final warning would be a sufficient outcome.

But the panel said they found her posts "appalling", "derogatory" and "abusive" and told the defendant her actions amounted to gross misconduct and dismissed her without notice.

Chairwoman Evis Samupfonda said: "(The posts) are derogatory and abusive, and also show a lack of tolerance for others who do not share the same characteristics as Ms Begum.

"It falls far below the standard of professional behaviour for police officers... (The tweets) are racist, discriminatory and intolerant."

Ms Samupfonda later described the comments as "so vile that members of the public could not be confident they would be treated fairly" and said the panel rejected the idea they were the result of "immaturity" and instead born out of "deep seated personal beliefs".

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Ms Begum gained widespread recognition in 2020 after a photo of her facing down anti-lockdown protesters in London went viral.

But in 2021, a Mail On Sunday article revealed her controversial posts on Twitter.

These included a series of derogatory posts about Jewish people, saying: "Dirty Zionists. Hell is waiting" and "Zionists have no heart".

Ms Begum had previously told the panel she had "transformed" as a person since posting the tweets, adding: "I was silly. It was almost 10 years ago and I've developed a lot through the police."

She later said: "It looks bad on paper and I can see how immature I was... I made a mistake which I'm sorry for."

But the panel told the hearing they rejected her claims of immaturity as "she was an adult and a serving police officer".

They also said Ms Begum underwent two rounds of equality and diversity training, once in 2014 when joining as a special constable and again in 2016 when becoming a full-time police constable.

'Appalled'

Ms Samupfonda said: "(Pc Begum) posted inappropriate comments after undertaking repeated training in equality and diversity. The last post was in 2019.

"There is little doubt she breached the standards of professional behaviour expected for police officers.

"And her conduct continued while a serving member of the Metropolitan Police. The panel is appalled by Pc Begum's behaviour.

"She has shown a lack of empathy for members of the public and her colleagues, and the tweets would undermine public confidence in the (Metropolitan Police)... The only appropriate outcome is dismissal without notice."

Chief Superintendent Colin Wingrove, in charge of the Met's Taskforce, said after the hearing: "There is absolutely no place within the Met for anyone with racist or otherwise hateful attitudes.

"Our diverse workforce, made up of people from a range of backgrounds, makes us better able to reflect and serve the public. We are working hard to build a culture where anyone can feel welcome and thrive.

"Those who undermine these goals have no place in the organisation. They are not suitable to serve Londoners and will feel the consequences.

"The overwhelming majority of officers in the Met make a fantastic contribution to policing London, but we can only rebuild trust and continue to deliver the change that is needed by taking action, as we have today, to remove those within our ranks who do not share our values."