Met PC caught making 'appalling' remarks sacked

A police officer who was caught making inappropriate and discriminatory comments about two women during an undercover Panorama investigation has been sacked.

An accelerated misconduct hearing found that PC Charlie Cano, who worked at Charing Cross police station, made disrespectful remarks and boasted about using force against a teenage female detainee.

He was attached to the Central West Command Unit and his behaviour, branded "appalling" by a senior officer, came to light after the BBC investigation into conduct at the central London police station in October 2025.

Unaired footage captured his words and he was immediately suspended from duty, the Metropolitan Police said.

Cdr Simon Messinger said Cano's behaviour recorded by an undercover journalist working covertly in the custody suite was "appalling".

The hearing found PC Cano breached the standards of professional behaviour relating to discreditable conduct, authority, respect and courtesy, and equality and diversity.

PC Charlie Cano is the 10th serving or former officer to be found guilty of gross misconduct on the back of Panorama's undercover investigation at station.

Messinger said the Met was supporting an ongoing Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation into the behaviour of "a number of officers" at the police station.

The police are working "tirelessly" to raise standards and improve its culture in London, he said.

In February, the IOPC said criminal investigations into a former Met police constable and a sergeant who were based at the station were ongoing, while another sergeant was being investigated for potential gross misconduct.