Former Met PC guilty of gross misconduct over racist and Islamophobic posts
Among other social media posts, PC Jonathan Eldered described the Qur’an as a ‘terrorist handbook’ but retired before he could be sacked, a panel heard
A former Metropolitan Police officer has been found guilty of gross misconduct and would have been dismissed had he still been serving, a misconduct hearing has found.
PC Jonathan Eldered, who has now retired, shared racist and Islamophobic posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, between August and November 2025.
During the accelerated misconduct hearing — a process used in cases where there is considered to be sufficient evidence of gross misconduct and where it would be in the public interest for an officer to leave the force without delay — it was heard that in August 2025, Eldered reposted an edited picture that appeared to show Keir Starmer wearing a taqiyah prayer cap and a long beard, alongside the words: “These… have no business in [UK flag]. Vote like a patriot and then take care of that.”
In a separate post from October 2025, Eldered reposted an AI-generated video that appeared to show a baby speaking to camera under the headline “Labour out”. The video, seen by Hyphen, saw the “baby” criticising immigration, saying Britain “looks like India” and that he “can’t fucking understand” workers at a branch of KFC.
At one point, the “baby” also complains that his father has been “taken by the police for racist tweets”.
In its submissions, the Met argued that the video “makes light of racial connotations”.
The hearing also heard that in November 2025, Eldered posted on X describing the Qur’an as a “terrorist handbook”.
Chairing the hearing on Tuesday, Met deputy assistant commissioner Carl Galvin found that Eldered’s social media activity, which occurred while he was still a serving officer, “showed an Islamophobic bias” that was likely to interfere with his ability to carry out impartial policing duties.
“Referring to the Qur’an as a terrorist handbook is highly offensive and Islamophobic, and shows a likelihood that former PC Eldered will not act towards Muslims with impartiality,” he said.
Galvin held that Eldered’s social media posts had been “inflammatory” and demonstrated a “lack of tolerance to other faiths and communities”. He also said that the former officer had shown a “lack of self control” through his social media activity.
The deputy assistant commissioner also noted that the posts were politically partisan in their criticism of the Labour Party, which goes against restrictions placed on police officers’ conduct in their private lives, including restrictions on expression of certain views and not taking an active part in politics.
“The group that is most affected is the Muslim community,” said Galvin, adding that Eldered’s social media activity erodes public trust in policing, and has undermined the standing and reputation of the Met and police more generally.
In her submission to the hearing, Victoria Male, presenting the case against Eldered, said that the former officer’s social media posts came to light following an anonymous report and that the social media handle attributed to him had been verified through checks.
Male argued that the posts would lead members of the public — particularly Muslims served by the Met — to believe the former officer would not be able to act impartially.
“The Met serves diverse communities, including Muslim communities,” she said. “Posts shared would have an actual effect on a discharge of his duty.”
Eldered denied that the reposts amounted to gross misconduct — the most serious level of misconduct that justifies dismissal — arguing instead that they should be treated as misconduct only. But Galvin rejected this, concluding that the severity of the posts amounted to gross misconduct.
Eldered told the hearing that at the time of the posts, he had not identified himself as a serving officer on his social media profile and that he had reposted the October video after only watching a few seconds of it, not realising its full content. However, Galvin said it was “not how much of the video he watched” that mattered but the fact that he had chosen to repost it publicly.
In a statement read out by Eldered during the hearing, he expressed his “sincere remorse” and accepted that his social media activity was “not the standard” expected of him as a then-serving police officer.
He added that his actions were influenced by personal frustrations with society and accepted that he failed to separate his “personal opinions from [his] responsibility as a police officer”.
“I want to be clear that I don’t support or condone discrimination,” he said. “I take full responsibility.”
He also admitted that engaging in political commentary in this way was “not appropriate given [his] role”, and asked for consideration to be given to his length of service as a police officer where he had “always taken pride serving [his] community”.
While Galvin accepted that Eldered was remorseful, he said his more than 20 years as an officer was not a mitigating factor.
Outlining his findings, Galvin said Eldered bore a “high level of culpability”, noting that the posts had been reposted intentionally by the former officer and that he was “solely responsible” for his own actions.
He added that the posts had caused harm to public confidence in policing, particularly among Muslim communities.
Eldered will be placed on the College of Policing’s barred list, which prevents people who were dismissed for gross misconduct from working in policing in future.
