Officer 'Not Distressed Enough' After Racist Attack

28 July 2026

A Cleveland Police officer was racially abused, but the Crown Prosecution Service didn’t proceed with the case because it said the officer didn’t look sufficiently distressed on body-worn footage.  

PC Hughes, who has been with Cleveland Police for nearly 22 years, has since moved into a non-public-facing role, partly so he wouldn’t be subject to more racial abuse.

He spoke out about his experience as Cleveland Police Federation continued its campaign Protect The Protectors: Stop Racism Against Police.

The officer said he had been racially abused a number of times in his job, but one incident stuck out.

He recalled: “A few years ago, I was on response and came across a guy who had been quite badly assaulted. I was trying to get details off him, but he clearly didn't want to speak to us. Then he turned his attention to me, simply based on the colour of my skin. I just let him get on with it, really: that was my coping mechanism.

“My colleague said he would report it, so the guy got a court summons and the file went to the CPS.”

However, the CPS later sent a report to PC Hughes’ inspector saying that the body-worn camera showed he had laughed at the man while he was being racially abused, and that it wasn’t willing to take it to court because this meant the officer hadn’t been ‘harrassed, alarmed or distressed’.

PC Hughes said: “I kind of felt robbed by the CPS, not being given my opportunity to explain to a court: ‘Look, the way I reacted was my coping mechanism’. That was my way of dealing with it at the time. That's not to say I wasn't alarmed and distressed. I shouldn't have to hear that type of thing, especially when I'm trying to help somebody.”

PC Hughes has since moved from response into a non-public-facing role, partly so he didn’t have to face racial abuse.

He explained: “The team I work with now are a mix of ethnic backgrounds, and everybody gets on. I've never heard anything derogatory being said. If I'm honest, I purposely looked for a role where I wouldn't be facing that kind of thing [racial abuse]. That wasn't my only reason, but that was one of my reasons.”

PC Hughes, who used to be the Chair of Cleveland’s Police’s Black Police Association, said he encouraged other officers to speak up and report racial abuse.

He said: “I think you've always got to take positive action against people committing the offence, and try to follow through with it as best you can. But also bear in mind that there's a good chance that things aren't going to go the way that you would expect them to go. Like in my situation.”

He also called on all police officers to stand up for their colleagues if they were being racially abused: “They've got to take action. And this should be the mindset, it shouldn't even be a second thought. Those people have committed a hate crime.”