Police trainee quit before sacking for racist slur

A former Kent Police officer who was still undergoing his initial training when he made a racist comment to other students would have been sacked if he had not resigned, a misconduct panel has ruled.

The panel, chaired by Assistant Chief Constable Andy Pritchard, said Owen Mills' comments had been found proven.

Alan Jenkins, acting as legal counsel for the police force, said if Mills were still an officer "he would have been sacked and barred from serving as an officer in the country".

The panel found allegations of Mills saying police "should wear KKK-style white hoods", and that he had sexually touched an officer without her consent, "were not considered to be sufficiently proven".

Pritchard said Mills' behaviour was nonetheless "gross misconduct", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The panel heard Mills was undergoing his initial training at Kent Police College in Maidstone when he said he "would abort a baby if you knew it was black," only two weeks after joining the force, and in front of other students.

Mills, who had resigned from Kent constabulary some months ago, did not attend the hearing.

Pritchard said the hearing must take place even in Mills' absence saying "he has been reminded very recently" that it was ongoing.

He added: "He has clearly directed that he intends to fail to engage, and there was no indication of any medical or other reason why he was unable to attend."

The female officer (referred to as PC A), who cannot be named for legal reasons, said in 2023 that she was with other officers when Mills had "pulled her towards him", Jenkins told the hearing.

"The other officers were able to see what took place, and their accounts tend to confirm PC A's version of events, and also her view that his actions had a strong sexual connotation," he said.

There had previously been a criminal investigation, but the female officer withdrew her support for the investigation and no charge was brought.

After a two-day hearing, the panel found that on the balance of probabilities, only the claim that he had made the comment about aborting black babies was found proven.

The comment about the Ku Klux Klan and the alleged sexual assault were not considered to be sufficiently proven.

Pritchard said Mills' behaviour was nonetheless "gross misconduct".

Jenkins argued this should result in a finding of dismissal, meaning if Mills were still an officer he would be sacked and added to the barred list so he could not serve as an officer anywhere else in the country.

The panel agreed, and decided Mills would be dismissed immediately were he still an officer, and that he should be added to the barred list.

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