Police inspector is sacked after likening Just Stop Oil protesters to ‘spoilt particular wants youngsters’ in social media posts

A police inspector with 27 years’ experience has been sacked for calling Just Stop Oil protesters ‘retards’ and likening them to ‘spoilt special needs kids’.

Inspector Ross Meredith also referred to the environmental protesters – whose protests have ranged from bringing motorways to a standstill to gluing themselves to paintings – as members of an ‘evil cult’ who must be suffering from a ‘mental health condition’.

But his bosses at Merseyside Police took a dim view when Meredith made his posts on X – formerly known as Twitter – and have now dismissed him without notice for breaching professional standards.

Disciplinary action was brought last June after he failed to act on an order two months earlier to remove ‘unacceptable’ posts from his X account.

Three of the officer’s tweets were highlighted as being offensive, from July 2022, and May and July 2023.

In the oldest post, Meredith, in his 50s, commented on a report about a ‘Just stop oil’ protestor gluing themselves to a painting – saying that ‘other than suffering from a mental health condition, there is no other rational explanation’ for the incident.

In May 2023, the officer responded to a comment from Just Stop Oil’s account, about members being arrested by the Metropolitan Police, saying: ‘You’ve lost the argument. All you ever do is harass & disrupt normal people & hinder the important chapters in their lives.

‘Those in power view you as nothing more than dog dirt in the grooves of a shoe. Stop acting like spoilt special needs kids & stop wearing oil-based tabards’.

And in the final post, from July 2023, he added: ‘Each pathetic protest results in fewer people supporting their cause.

‘This evil cult are so dim they simply don’t realise the futility of their tantrums. The government doesn’t’ care about orange JSO retards hurting normal people’.

In its disciplinary report, Merseyside Police said it had found Meredith had committed ‘gross misconduct’ for his ‘derogatory and ableist’ postings.

The force told him he breached ‘standards of professional behaviour in that you replied to comments on your X account and your replies were unacceptable’.

‘You acted in a manner that is capable of bringing the police service into disrepute (and) demonstrated a lack of respect and courtesy for those with disabilities.’ 

The force found he had breached its equality and diversity policy ‘in that posting the responses itemised, your ability to act with fairness and impartiality can be questioned’.

Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss, who chaired the final disciplinary hearing held earlier this month, said former Inspector Meredith admitted misconduct only in relation to the replies in 2023.

He denied the reply posted in July 2022 amounted to misconduct or that it breached the standards of professional behaviour.

However, Assistant Chief Constable Goss said: ‘In relation to the language used in the reply on July 2 2022, I have concluded that Inspector Meredith also breached the standards of professional behaviour alleged in respect of that reply.

‘The comment was intended to denigrate JSO activists, suggesting they were the actions of someone who was suffering from mental illness.

‘The natural meaning of what the officer commented was that the only reason someone might behave in that way was because they were mentally ill. After careful thought, I cannot see what other meaning was intended within the context of the message.’ 

The Assistant Chief Constable added: ‘The language used by the officer was offensive, derogatory and unbecoming of a police officer.

‘The officer’s comments demonstrated a lack of respect and courtesy for those with disabilities, as well as a lack of impartiality in dealing with groups of people who have strong legitimate views around the important issue of climate control.

‘The comments were discriminatory and had the potential to bring the police service into disrepute and undermine public confidence in both Merseyside Police and policing nationally.’ 

Meredith held a number of positions while at Merseyside Police. After rising through the ranks in a previously unblemished career, he recently acted as a community inspector across Wirral and as a ‘bronze team’ responder responsible for operational decisions during high profile incidents.

The former officer was also part of Merseyside Police’s LGBTQ+ Network, whose work includes ‘promoting inclusion’ in the community.

Following an ‘accelerated misconduct hearing’, the former officer was axed from the force without notice and will subsequently be barred from becoming an officer again for a minimum of five years.

Detective Chief Superintendent Sarbjit Kaur, head of Merseyside Police’s professional standards, said: ‘Inspector Meredith’s actions undermine the good work of officers and staff, the overwhelming majority of whom consistently strive to protect our communities every day they turn up for work.

‘We always demand the highest possible standards from all our officers and staff, both on and off duty. We work proactively to root out and investigate officers and staff whose behaviour falls short of the very high standards the public of Merseyside expect and deserve.’

Mr Meredith said he plans to appeal against his dismissal by Merseyside Police but declined to comment further.