Cop who blackened his face is to keep job
A POLICE inspector who posted pictures of himself in blackface and joked about groping a nurse has kept his job.
Inspector Paul Ayling, of Bedfordshire Police, posted the images on Facebook in 2010.
The 39-year-old also posted in 2016: “An accidental **** grab of a nursery nurse while dropping off your daughter is the way to start any day.”
The posts only came to light when Mark Emsley, from Shefford, Beds, reported them to the force in 2021.
Ayling’s conduct was investigated by Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire police and it was recommended he should be punished with Practice Requiring Improvement.
The investigation found the posts were not “racist by their nature”.
In a letter to Mr Emsley, 51, in January, DCI Ben Martin described the posts as “distasteful” and “insensitive”. He said they did not set out to be discriminatory.