A cop who stopped filming when a fellow officer confronted a racist detainee in the back of a police van has been sacked in disgrace.

Probationary officer Pc William Byers ‘deliberately’ switched off his body-worn camera out of a ‘misguided sense of loyalty’ when Sgt David Rothwell tackled handcuffed suspect Borwar Ahmed, a Greater Manchester Police misconduct panel ruled.

Moments earlier Ahmed had launched a drunken tirade of foul racist abuse at a third officer PC Brendan Colley, who was driving the van.

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Ahmed, whose hands were covered in blood, repeatedly called Pc Colley a ‘monkey’ amid other racist slurs, while he referred to the other officers as ‘white b****’ and threatened to rape their children and mothers.

In the midst of the abuse Sgt Rothwell told PC Colley to stop the van, then got out and climbed into the ‘cage’ alongside Ahmed. “Now you f****** listen here right now fella, you f****** listen here,” he told the detainee. “Shut the f*** up… enough of that racist s***.”

Sgt Rothwell then put his hand to Ahmed’s face and pinned it to the side of the van, the panel heard. Ahmed, who was being transported from Whalley Range to Manchester Central Park Police Station after being arrested on suspicion of ABH; criminal damage; and racially aggravated public disorder in an incident in which he was alleged to have kicked a woman in the head, was heard to say ‘what are you assaulting me for?’ and ‘you’re hurting my head’.

Following the incident on December 28, 2021 all three officers were hauled before a disciplinary tribunal accused of gross misconduct. Sgt Rothwell, who was accused of using unnecessary force, among other breaches of professional standards, told the four-day disciplinary hearing, which took place at GMP headquarters earlier this month, that he had pinned Ahmed’s face because he feared he was about to spit at him.

PC Colley, who was stood with one foot on the van’s rear step looking into the cage at the time of the incident, was accused of not challenging Sgt Rothwell over his ‘inappropriate’ actions. PC Byers was accused of deactivating the recording for seven seconds at the ‘most sensitive time’ when Sgt Rothwell was alleged to have used force.

He told the panel he had turned his camera off because he thought the incident was over, before switching it back on when he realised it was still ongoing. The panel ruled that while Sgt Rothwell was ‘understandably feeling a deep sense of revulsion’ at the racism being hurled at Pc Colley, his response was ‘somewhat hot-headed’.

Getting into the cage and his use of language were ‘inappropriate and unprofessional’, the panel ruled. But the panel also found it was ‘more likely than not’ that Sgt Rothwell believed Mr Ahmed was about to spit at him. And they found that in a situation where ‘certain customary niceties would necessarily have to be put aside’ his use of force was ‘necessary, proportionate and objectively reasonable’.

As Sgt Rothwell was not found to have used improper force there was no need for PC Colley to challenge him, the panel ruled. Both Sgt Rothwell and PC Colley were cleared of misconduct.

But the panel found that PC Byers did know the ‘heated’ exchange was still ongoing when he ‘deliberately’ switched off his body-worn camera, meaning vital evidence was lost.

His actions and his ‘untruthful explanation’ risked the reputation of policing. The panel, which said it took into account five positive character references, his previously unblemished record and the fact the incident took place during a ‘tense situation, ruled Pc Byers was guilty of gross misconduct.

He was dismissed immediately.