A police officer was left suicidal by the “bullying” behaviour of colleagues on a “toxic” specialist task force, a disciplinary hearing has been told.
Inspector Nicholas Mantle, Pc Mark Jordan-Gill, Pc Michael Lowther, Pc Matthew Young and former Pc Paul Perdrisat face four allegations of breaching Dorset Police’s professional standards between 2018 and 2021.
They were all part of the specialist Force Support Group (FSG) based at Bournemouth that a colleague, named only as Pc A, called “toxic” because of the “bullying environment”.
I challenged Pc Perdrisat and took him to one side. 'Why are you doing this?' And he said to me, 'By picking on the weakest link we get rid of them'— Pc A
Pc A said the quintet’s treatment of him left him considering suicide.
He described Perdrisat as the “alpha male” and said: “I challenged Pc Perdrisat and took him to one side. ‘Why are you doing this?’ And he said to me, ‘By picking on the weakest link we get rid of them’.”
Describing the group’s behaviour, Pc A said: “Whatever we did was not good enough. They just chipped away – the team, Pc Perdrisat, Pc Jordan-Gill, a little bit by Pc Lowther and Pc Young.”
He added: “I didn’t want to wake up in the morning. I thought about taking my own life.”
The officers who posted should not have done so in the first place. They should have been challenged and they should have been stopped— Mark Ley-Morgan
Pc A said homophobic comments were made in the office, adding: “I was astounded at professional police officers being homophobic.”
Mark Ley-Morgan, representing the force, told the Winfrith hearing the officers also posted or failed to challenge items posted in a WhatsApp group called “The Real FSG”.
He said: “Some can be described as sexist, pornographic, misogynistic, homophobic, racist, bullying, offensive and otherwise inappropriate.
“The officers who posted should not have done so in the first place.
“They should have been challenged and they should have been stopped.
I didn't want to wake up in the morning. I thought about taking my own life— Pc A
“The officers should have left the group and reported the group.”
Mr Ley-Morgan said the messages were in breach of the force’s social media policy and would discredit the force because “a member of the public would be justifiably appalled” by the images and “by the officers finding them humorous”.
The officers are also accused of making discriminatory comments and putting up an inappropriate calendar – given as a secret Santa gift – as “wall art” in their office.
They deny gross misconduct. The hearing continues.
