The Metropolitan Police in the United Kingdom has sacked a Nigerian-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’.