South Yorkshire Police special constable dismissed for 'racist and puerile' Facebook posts

South Yorkshire Police have dismissed a special constable

Special Constable Oliver Paduch, an unpaid volunteer for the force, was reported to South Yorkshire Police's Professional Standards Department by a colleague concerned about what he was putting online.

Paduch wrote in March under a picture of a black man 'I heard this n**** a Crip' - an apparent reference to a notorious Los Angeles street gang.

A police misconduct hearing in Chapeltown heard that under a separate Facebook picture of a 'large black male', Paduch wrote 'Look at dem lips'.

DCI Deb Mahmood said the case had been referred to the IPCC who determined it should be investigated locally.

She said Paduch had provided a written statement in which he said 'he didn't intend the comments to be insulting, however he could see it would be seen as such by others and reflect badly on him and South Yorkshire Police'.

She added: "He accepts his position within South Yorkshire Police is untenable."

Paduch did not attend the hearing but was represented by Detective Sergeant Paul Aspinall.

DS Aspinall said: "He accepts he had engaged in ill-judged online posts and with the benefit of hindsight accepts they would be judged by others as offensive."

He added that Paduch is 'of a younger generation who use Facebook and other social media differently' and the special constable wished to draw attention to the fact he had spelled the n-word with an 'a' at the end rather than the traditional 'er'.

DS Aspinall said: "There was no intention to cause anybody offence."

But chief constable Stephen Watson said: "In seeking to explain his language as somehow reflective of contemporary vernacular, I find this to be unfounded."

He said the comments were instead 'straight-forwardly racist and puerile'.

Mr Watson said Paduch would be dismissed with immediate effect as it was unacceptable for him to represent South Yorkshire Police in any capacity.

Mr Watson said he was pleased the issue had been highlighted through a South Yorkshire Police colleague reporting concerns about Paduch's online behaviour.