Black police officer takes action after 'clearly racist' colleagues stop his car as he drives home from work

A Black Met Police inspector has made a formal complaint after he was stopped in his car by his colleagues.

Inspector Charles Ehikioya was pulled over by Met officers in Croydon, south London on 23 May, the force said.

The officers decided to stop him on the way home from his shift because they thought he was speeding and may have run through a red light, a spokesman added.

But Inspector Ehikioya, who has worked for the Met for more than two decades, has lodged a complaint of racial harassment over claims of “racial profiling”.

His letter reads: “The officers did not believe or did not care that I was an officer, because I am Black.

“They are both clearly racist police officers pretending to be polite whilst falsely accusing me without any evidence whatsoever of having committed serious criminal and road traffic act offences.”

A Met Police spokesman said: “We can confirm that on 24 May we received an internal complaint regarding a vehicle stop.

“On 23 May, a driver was stopped by police while driving his vehicle. The driver, who is a Black man, alleged that the stop was the result of racial profiling.

“As is usual practice, local enquiries were undertaken by the professional standards unit.

“Enquiries established that the vehicle was followed by officers prior to the stop due to suspicion of excessive speed at a traffic signal and onward.”

Bodycam footage of the incident was reviewed and found “no evidence of misconduct”, they added.

Inspector Ehikioya was not arrested and no further action was taken.

Lawrence Davies of Equal Justice Solicitors, the firm representing him, told Sky News there is “ingrained racism” in the Met.

He said: “In this case, you appear to have two active racists, and the question then is will the MPS become complicit or discipline them?

“There are only very few active racists, so we have to tackle the complicit who institutionalise the issue.”

It comes after Labour MP Dawn Butler was stopped by Met officers in east London, sparking claims of racial profiling and institutional racism.

The same force apologised to sprinter Bianca Williams after she and her partner Ricardo dos Santos were stopped and handcuffed while their three-month-old son was in the car.

Both incidents were referred to the police watchdog.