Police officers investigated after training descended into chaos

Five police officers are investigated after anti-riot training descended into chaos when they ‘drunkenly threw petrol bombs at each other and started huge blaze that destroyed car’

  • It has been claimed that 150 fire extinguishers were used to put out the blaze
  • A Scotland Yard officer is being investigated over the training centre incident 

Police got drunk on a riot training course, threw petrol bombs at each other and started a blaze that needed 150 fire extinguishers to put out, it has been claimed.

A Scotland Yard officer is being investigated over the incident in which a pool car was destroyed at the Metropolitan Police tactical training centre in Gravesend, Kent.

A source said five British officers, understood to be from various forces, and two Canadian officers went out drinking after a day of public order training, before returning to their accommodation at the centre. They allegedly took the petrol bombs used in riot training and began launching them at each other, until a pool car used for driving around the 100-acre site caught fire.

The source said the drunk officers – five men and two women – refused to call the fire brigade so as to avoid the incident being officially logged.

They tried to tackle the blaze themselves but it required 150 fire extinguishers and the pool car was completely destroyed.

Riot situation demonstration in 2009 at the Metropolitan Police Specialist Training Centre (file image)

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that one officer was under investigation for arson at the training facility on March 23 and said he had been placed on restricted duties.

The training centre, which has accommodation for around 300 people, has a mock town for public order training where officers prepare for riots by facing violent mobs throwing bricks, glass bottles and even real petrol bombs.

The £41million facility has mock shops, a bank, estate agent, flats and even a Tube station.

The source said last night: ‘It is a miracle no one was killed or seriously injured. The stupidity and arrogance of these people is mind-boggling. Most people have done stupid things when drinking too much and showing off, but these are police officers at a training away trip who have accessed dangerous incendiary items and started chucking them about.

‘Throwing petrol bombs at each other, Molotov cocktails. These are the highly trained individuals who are supposed to be keeping us safe.’

The shocking incident came two weeks before outgoing commissioner Dame Cressida Dick made a much-publicised visit to the centre on her last day in post.

A Met police spokesman said that its internal professional standards department was investigating the training centre incident and a referral had been made to watchdogs at the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

The spokesman said: ‘The Met’s directorate of professional standards is investigating an allegation that an officer attached to public order committed arson at a police training facility in Kent on Wednesday, 23 March, while he was off duty. A mandatory referral has been made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. The officer has been placed on restricted duties.’

Officers at the Metropolitan Police Specialist Training Centre in Gravesend previously giving a public demonstration of real-life riot situations (file image pictured in 2009)

A spokesman from the IOPC confirmed it had received a referral from the Met but had passed it back to be dealt with internally.

They said: ‘Having carefully considered a mandatory conduct referral from the Metropolitan Police Service, received on 23 March 2022, we decided the matter did require investigation and it was appropriate for the force’s directorate of professional standards to carry it out.’

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