Officer Dismissed for Offensive Language About Romas, Gypsies, and Travellers
Detective Constable Mark Luker, a British Transport Police (BTP) officer who was among the first responders to the 2017 London Bridge terror attack, has been dismissed for gross misconduct following the use of derogatory language targeting Romas, Gypsies, and Travellers in a WhatsApp group chat.
DC Luker participated in a WhatsApp group with fellow police officers, where he made offensive remarks. On 31 December 2024, during a conversation about an individual winning a bottle of whisky that still had a security tag attached, Luker wrote:
"Was this a raffle on a certain kind of site? Lots of mobile type homes? Lots of ‘Dags"
He followed this with:
"You are the MSOC pikey liaison"
The misconduct panel convened for the tribunal determined these messages were deliberate and clearly linked the Irish Traveller community to theft.
The term "dags" is understood to reference a scene from the Guy Ritchie film Snatch, where Brad Pitt portrays a Gypsy character. In this scene, Stephen Graham’s character struggles to understand Pitt’s accent when he says "dogs." The panel found the term "dags" to be derogatory as it mocks the Gypsy character’s accent.
DC Luker was part of a WhatsApp group named "Selbie Gumshoes," which included members of the Major Serious and Organised Crime (MSOC) team.
On 17 March 2025, during another WhatsApp exchange, Luker commented:
"Off to find some scrap metal, lead roofing and cable"
This was in response to a video shared by another group member showing a "Paddy Day parade on Inishbofin," accompanied by the message:
"Just like a Disney World Parade. They know how to put on a show"
The panel concluded that Luker’s comment was deliberate and discriminatory, associating the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller community with theft.
Additionally, Luker used the word "pikey" again in messages sent on 27 March 2025.
During the tribunal, Luker acknowledged that the reference to "scrap metal, lead roofing and cable" was a joke intended to associate theft with the Irish Traveller community. However, he stated that he did not intend for the term "pikey" to be offensive.
DC Luker was one of the first officers to respond to the London Bridge terror attack on 3 June 2017. He explained that humour was one of his coping mechanisms for dealing with the traumatic events of that day, the panel heard.
Despite the misconduct findings, the panel concluded that DC Luker is not "inherently racist."
"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,"
the panel wrote.
