The 13th Met Officer Dismissed Over the Charing Cross Undercover Investigation
PC Mason O'Connor has been dismissed from the Metropolitan Police, the 13th serving officer to lose his job in connection with the BBC undercover investigation into misogyny and racism at Charing Cross police station.
A disciplinary panel found O'Connor, who was attached to Central West, guilty of discreditable conduct, meaning behaviour that damages public trust, and of breaching professional behaviour standards, the rules officers must follow. The ruling was reported on 15 September 2026. The Guardian
The panel heard that O'Connor, while off duty in a pub in October 2024, told a female colleague he "hoped you get raped on your way to Waterloo". That comment did not appear in the original broadcast. It emerged through a witness appeal and wider proactive investigation launched by the force after the Panorama film aired.
That film, titled "Undercover in the Police", was broadcast in October 2025 after seven months of undercover filming inside Charing Cross. The footage included officers calling for immigrants to be shot and boasting about using violence against suspects. The Metropolitan Police subsequently confirmed the dismissal of two more officers for inappropriate conduct linked to the station. Metropolitan Police
O'Connor's dismissal followed closely on that of PC Lloyd Hunter a few weeks earlier. Hunter was found to have made comments trivialising the use of force and suggesting he would enjoy using force against members of the public. He also said he "hated" homeless people. Both O'Connor and Hunter will be barred from rejoining the police.
The disciplinary process is still expanding. The Independent Office for Police Conduct, the independent body that investigates complaints against police in England and Wales, has confirmed that investigations are continuing against 15 other officers or police staff linked to BBC footage, including material that was not included in the Panorama broadcast. A further gross misconduct hearing, the formal process for the most serious breaches that can lead to dismissal, is scheduled for later in September 2026 over comments made by a detention officer regarding the treatment of people held in police custody.
The broader context here is a misconduct pipeline that has continued to widen almost a year after broadcast. Each dismissal has rested on a separate panel finding, whether from footage obtained by the BBC or from subsequent witness evidence. For a force that polices by consent, which means it relies on public cooperation rather than force alone, the sequence matters. The initial undercover material established the scope. The follow-on appeals and proactive inquiries are now producing additional cases.
Looking at what this means for the institution, the immediate pressure point is volume and velocity. With 13 dismissals concluded and 15 IOPC investigations still active, Charing Cross has become a sustained test of the Met's disciplinary machinery. The outcomes to watch are not only the pending detention officer hearing but whether the remaining investigations, drawing in part on unaired footage, result in further accelerated or gross misconduct proceedings and permanent bars.
