A fellow officer complained that it implied they were not a proper part of Merseyside Police
A Merseyside Police officer used a “deeply offensive” word after being called to a Tesco car park where travellers were setting up. PC Kevin Courtney was in a police van with other officers when they were ordered to attend the supermarket, and he began listing names for groups of travellers, including “gypsies and tinkers”.
It was said that Courtney, who has since retired, used the word “Fenian”, a term for members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, sometimes used as a derogatory word for Irish Catholics, to refer to another officer. This offended the officer, who was a Roman Catholic of Irish heritage, and he complained at the end of his shift.
A misconduct hearing was held on September 16 2024, in which it was alleged PC Courtney had breached the standards of authority, respect and courtesy, and conduct. In a recently published report, the panel said the case was “unusual” due to the “archaic” nature of the word, which some panel members and witnesses had never heard before.
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They said: “The word is, we find capable of being deeply offensive. We accept evidence about how he perceived the word and that he was genuinely and deeply upset. We can see clear logic in him feeling that he was being told that he was not a proper part of the Merseyside Police.
“There is an objective non-offensive of interpretation of Fenian; seeking a united Ireland is not in and of itself an ignoble cause. The problem comes from the methods used to pursue (and resist) unity over centuries. Perspective is key. It is not, objectively, simply a reference to a Roman Catholic of Irish descent.
“We make clear that, like a number of witnesses in this case, members of the panel had not heard this word before. It is not a word in common usage. Those two factors make the interpretation of the word far more difficult and important in this case than in others where a person might be taken to have fully understood the meaning of a racial slur.
“It is for the officer to understand words he chooses to use. It is no defence to say that he didn’t understand it but there is a difference between the deliberate use of a word to give offence and ignorance.”
The panel said the incident was a “case of recklessness”, adding: “We do not accept that there was an intention to cause real offence, and the use of the word represents ignorance rather than malice.” However, they said there was “much to criticise” in Courtney’s case, as he refused to see things from the student officer’s point of view and instead made the “absurd claim” that he was “unconsciously biased”.
They recorded a finding of misconduct, but said this would not be grounds for dismissal if Courtney was still a serving police officer as there was “room for education and awareness”. Courtney, a 25 year veteran of the force, retired some time after the incident took place in August last year.
