London Bridge attack hero sacked by police for using ‘p*key’ slur

A police officer who was among the first on the scene of the 2017 London Bridge terror attack has been fired for gross misconduct.

Detective Constable Mark Luker of the British Transport Police used the word “p*key” in WhatsApp messages about Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller people.

In one message, he used the term “dags” – a reference to the film Snatch, in which one character struggles to understand another’s accent when he mentions dogs, a misconduct panel heard.

In another message, the panel was told, he referred to “scrap metal, lead roofing and cable”, which he accepted was a joke to associate the Irish Traveller community with theft.

The panel concluded that Mr Luker probably knew that the language was “offensive” to a minority community and ruled it gross misconduct.

The officer was a member of a WhatsApp group called ‘Selbie Gumshoes’ with other members of the Major Serious and Organised Crime (MSOC) team, the panel heard.

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On 31 December 2024, during a conversation about someone winning a bottle of whiskey which still had a security tag attached, he wrote: “Was this a raffle on a certain kind of site? Lots of mobile type homes? Lots of ‘Dags’”, the panel was told.

He then added: “You are the MSOC p*key liaison.”

The panel found that these were “deliberate messages, that clearly link the Irish Traveller community to acts of theft”.

It added that the use of the word “dags” in the messages was “derogatory” as it refers to a scene in Snatch where a Gypsy character’s accent is “mocked”.

On 17 March 2025, another group member shared a video of “Paddy Day parade on Inishbofin”, with the message: “Just like a Disney World Parade. They know how to put on a show,” the panel heard.

Mr Luker replied: “Off to find some scrap metal, lead roofing and cable”, the panel was told.

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The panel concluded that this was “deliberate and discriminatory” in linking the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community to theft.

On 27 March 2025, he used the word “p*key” again, which the panel found to be “disrespectful”.

Mr Luker said that he was one of the first responders to the 2017 terrorist attack on London Bridge and one of his coping mechanisms for dealing with the day can involve the use of humour.

He said he did not intend for the word “p*key” in the messages to be offensive.

The panel accepted that DC Luker is not “inherently racist”.

However, it wrote: “As an experienced BTP police officer used to dealing with a whole range of people, the panel found that, on the balance of probabilities, he probably would have known that this was an especially offensive use of language directed towards members of a minority community.”