A POLICEMAN HAS been suspended from London’s Metropolitan Police after the Guardian newspaper published a recording of racist abuse allegedly from a police officer.

Sky News reports that a policeman has been suspended and that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is reviewing an initial decision not to charge an officer alleged to have made the racist comments following complaints from a 21-year-old man at the centre of the story.

After the man from Beckton in East London was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence the day after last summer’s English riots, he is said to have recorded what followed.

In the recording, published on The Guardian website, a man identified only as ‘Officer B’ is heard telling the arrested man:

The problem with you is you will always be a n*****, yeah? That’s your problem, yeah…

… You’ll always have black skin colour. Don’t hide behind your colour, yeah. Be proud. Be proud of who you are, yeah. Don’t hide behind your black skin.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said that the Independent Police Complaints Commission is now investigating the incident: “These are serious allegations; any use of racist language or excessive use of force is not acceptable.”

One officer has been suspended, one has been placed on restricted duties on an unrelated matter and another remains on full duties, the Met Police added.