EXCLUSIVE: Police officers at Bethel Street station in Norwich were recorded talking about illegally stop-searching black people, ‘dragging’ a suspect ‘down the stairs’ and calling a trans person a ‘pink-haired thing’
Police officers appeared to accidentally record themselves making transphobic and racist comments, and discussing illegally stop-searching Black people.
The officers, at Bethel Street Police Station in Norwich, also made jokes about “dragging” a suspect “down the stairs”, all recorded on a camera which officers had confiscated from a protester. The camera was left sitting on a desk, and the officers didn’t stop it recording.
In one clip, the video appeared to show an officer can seemingly saying: “I illegally stop-search IC3 [police code for Black people] females and then I arrest them and it becomes a big deal”. Another officer replied: “you’re Black, and you were disobedient.”
Norfolk Constabulary told the Mirror that while they are still reviewing some of what has appeared online, a spokesperson admitted parts of the recordings will “undermine public confidence in policing”. The force said it had looked into the stop and search for the officers involved and had not found evidence of discriminatory behaviour.
Animal rights activist Gemma Barnes claimed she was pushed to the ground by a police officer during a protest outside the station in January 2023, before cops arrested her and took her bodycam. Now for the first time, the recording of officers discussing the protesters, and making other comments behind closed doors, has been shared online.
The recording appeared to show one officer calling Gemma “an absolute f******g waste of space” on the tape. At another point in the video, police could be heard laughing as they reviewed the footage of Gemma being pushed over, with one officer seemingly saying: “she went down like Cristiano Ronaldo.”
One of the officers told his colleague: “I like how you’re so committed, you f******g send Gemma Barnes flying and then you’re like ‘right, next protester’.”
Gemma filed a complaint with the force in early 2023 about the police’s handling of herself and other demonstrators as well as the recordings from inside the station she found on her bodycam. Norfolk Constabulary’s Professional Standards Department reported in March 2026 in documents seen by the Mirror, with three officers given “reflective practice”. Gemma called the outcome of the compliant procedure a “whitewash” and says she is now suing Norfolk Constabulary.
The initial altercation took place during a protest staged by Gemma and her fellow animal rights activists over the death of a pigeon in Norwich town centre.
An elderly man was caught on CCTV riding his mobility scooter over the bird before he went back and finished it off with his walking stick. Cops interviewed the pensioner but took no further action, sparking a petition from animal rights activists calling for police to review their decision not to prosecute him. The petition gained over 50,000 signatures.
Gemma said she asked Norfolk Constabulary to review their decision to drop the case but when she got no response, she and a handful of activists went to Bethel Road Police Station on January 14 2023 to deliver the petition and stage a demonstration.
During the demo, Gemma said she was pushed to the ground by a cop, and claimed police acted violently towards her before she was arrested on a public order charge. Her bodycam was later confiscated. She and a fellow protester stood trial at Norwich Magistrate’s court in November 2023 and were both acquitted.
In another part of the recording, police could seemingly be heard talking about the other protester, who is trans. One of the officers referred to this protester as: “The pink-haired thing, whatever that was, they/them.”
It was not until the trial process had finished that Gemma got her camera back, and she found the recording of the cops’ shocking comments on it. She said: “When I got the footage back following the acquittal, I expected the footage to be wiped. When I saw there were files on there, I clicked on a random file and it was audio from a PC who had put the camera in his pocket and recorded himself on the toilet, I was just in stitches.”
“But I really thought that would be the end of it. He’d probably have then taken it to the evidence locker, the battery would’ve died or he’d have switched it off. But as I kept listening I realised the magnitude of their cock-up. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing,” she said. “The incompetence of it is unbelievable.”
“I was shocked that none of these comments were challenged by other officers, it’s really, really bad.”
In another section of the recording the cops appeared to crack jokes about “old-school custody” and “dragging her down the stairs”. Later, one of the police staff appeared to say “you’re all going to be on YouTube” to which one replied: “I’m not.” Another added: “I was wearing my big hat so I’m less recognisable.”
Gemma said she released the full video last Monday after extracts she had posted on Instagram went viral, in order to raise awareness of the actions of the officers involved. The Instagram reels have now been viewed millions of times.
Her lawyer John Hagan, told the Mirror: “This footage shows us what goes on inside many Police Officer’s heads and behind the closed doors of the Police Station, and it is not a pretty sight. Officers can be heard describing my client as a f*****g waste of space, discussing other officers attempting to generate an unsubstantiated charge against her and describing a transgender person as a ‘thing’.
“They are gleeful about the violence they have used against Gemma, a peaceful protestor, and frankly the whole atmosphere is akin to a school in which the teachers are absent and the bullies have taken over. What is perhaps equally shocking to what is revealed on the ‘candid camera’, with which the police recorded their sordid comments, is their behaviour in the full light of day.
He said one of the officers had: “Publicly and brutally assaulted my client with the kind of cocky impunity which is born of a policing culture which fails to police itself.” Mr Hagan was also scathing of the outcome of Gemma’s complaint, he said: “The so-called Independent Office of Police Conduct has, as usual, shown itself to be anything but independent in its assessment of my client’s case, and she will now be using the full force of the civil law to hold both Norfolk Constabulary and the IOPC to account for their egregious actions.”
A Norfolk Constabulary spokeswoman said: “We can confirm this footage was reviewed as part of a conduct investigation which started in January 2024 and considered 17 separate aspects as part of a single complaint. Following that investigation, a number of matters were addressed through the appropriate misconduct processes. We also reviewed arrest and stop and search records for the officers involved and found no wider evidence of discriminatory behaviour. This investigation is currently subject to a complainant’s right to review with the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
“Part of the footage currently being circulated on social media has not previously been provided to the Constabulary in its current format and we are therefore further reviewing this. As a matter of fairness, we will not comment further on this while that assessment is ongoing.
“We know that some of the content currently being shared will undermine public confidence in policing. People rightly expect high standards from police officers and staff, and some of the content being circulated falls short of what the public would expect to hear. We are carefully reviewing the new material and will take any action that is supported by evidence.”
