Metropolitan Police PC Omer Farok was dismissed with immediate effect on 30 October 2024 following an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation which found he committed gross misconduct and used unreasonable force during the violent arrest of a vulnerable homeless man in central London.
An independent disciplinary panel ruled that PC Omer Farok committed gross misconduct by breaching the professional standards of use of force, authority, respect and courtesy.
Following a trial in November 2025, PC Omer Farok was acquitted of criminal assault by beating.
The internal disciplinary panel still sacked PC Omer Farok because police misconduct hearings operate under the civil standard of proof (the balance of probabilities), which evaluates whether professional standards were breached, whereas the criminal court required proof beyond reasonable doubt to convict him of assault.
By being placed on the College of Policing barred list, PC Omer Farok is subject to a statutory ban that legally obliges all UK law enforcement authorities to reject his application, while vetting agencies and private security firms can view his gross misconduct dismissal to deny him the necessary clearance for security roles.
PC Omer Farok was officially dismissed with immediate effect on Friday 30 October 2026.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct investigates gross misconduct through a structured process that involves receiving a mandatory force referral, setting a clear investigative scope, serving official misconduct notices to the officer, gathering all available evidence and footage, and compiling a final report to direct the police force to hold a formal disciplinary hearing.
Following an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation into gross misconduct, Metropolitan Police PC Omer Farok was dismissed without notice after using unreasonable force on a compliant, handcuffed man who had made no attempt to leave when officers responded to reports of an unattended vehicle being entered in Parker Street, central London, in June 2024.
During the incident, PC Omer Farok directed abusive remarks at the detained man by repeatedly calling him an “idiot” and continuously shouting “stop resisting” while the victim lay compliant and bleeding on the pavement.
During the investigation, the victim’s injuries were legally and medically classified as a head injury consisting of a severe laceration above his right eyebrow that required immediate hospital treatment.
The incident occurred on Parker Street in Holborn, central London, on 15 June 2024, after officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Central North Basic Command Unit responded to reports of an individual entering an unattended vehicle.
Public reaction heavily criticised the officer’s abuse of power, with many commenters expressing that a uniform shouldn’t give police free rein to use violence and questioning the gap between criminal accountability and professional policing standards.
