A police officer has been fired after she was caught using vile, racist language on a night out.
PC Katie Barratt, 22, was hauled up to a disciplinary hearing where she was found to have made derogatory comments about members of a staff at a takeaway in Newcastle in December last year.
Barratt, who worked for Northumbria Police, was alleged to have used racial slurs, including referring to members of the staff in the takeaway as 'fucking n****r' and 'fucking p**i'. She denied that she said this and disputed the statements made by her two colleagues who testified against her.
In an additional allegation, it was claimed she had said 'p**i' up to six time; Barratt admitted to using the word twice, Chronicle Live reports.
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She told the hearing that she wasn't a racist person and couldn't explain why she had said what she had.
Barratt, who admitted she was drunk at the time, made the comments to her colleagues and they were not heard by the staff she was talking about. Her colleagues alerted their superiors to what Barratt had said and an investigation was launched.
She was eventually dismissed after a hearing in Tyne and Wear.
Speaking after the hearing, Detective Superintendent Sav Patsalos, who heads up Northumbria Police's professional standards department, said: "The language used by PC Katie Barratt is wholly unacceptable.
"I want to make it absolutely clear that there is no place for this type of language or any other form of racist behaviour within Northumbria Police.
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"This was recognised by a colleague who rightly came forward to report the comments, reflecting the culture within the force where people have the confidence to speak up and challenge unacceptable behaviour.
"We expect officers and staff to maintain the highest levels of professionalism at all times and as such they must not compromise or damage our strong relationships with the communities we serve.
"I want to assure the public that we are committed to taking positive action in those instances where individuals fall below the expected standards of behaviour."
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