PC Thomas Karlsen, an officer of the Metropolitan Police, stood accused at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, June 27th 2023 accused of Actual Bodily Harm. He pled guilty and will be sentenced on Tuesday, August 8th 2023.
Whilst on duty, the PC Thomas Karlsen showed a brazen disregard for reasonable force and launched an attack on an individual, punching him, kicking him repeatedly, and using PAVA at close proximity. He attended a South London home to respond to a domestic incident in November 2022.
Thomas Karlsen was interviewed and suspended from duty.
However, the ordeal becomes more concerning as information has surfaced of historical issues related to the disgraced officer. In January 2022 he was the subject of a complaint after a former Metropolitan Police officer of 11 years, Alice Vinten, noticed he was openly communicating with the public on Twitter in a ‘bullying’ manner using profane, misogynistic language, and it allegedly began in 2021.
Alice filed a complaint containing evidence that Karlsen was making discriminatory comments about race and misogynistic comments about women having ‘victim mentalities’. She says the Met responded by tasking Karlsen with ‘individual learning’ in order to conduct himself in an acceptable manner online and challenge these ideological issues.
Despite this individual learning, Karlsen continued to tweet in an abusive manner, calling other officers who criticised his conduct ‘snide c*nts’. He later reported Alice for harassment in an effort to bring criminal charges against her – he openly tweeted that this was simply “retaliation”.
The disgraced officer ‘launched a campaign of harassment’ against Alice in “retaliation”. Twitter accounts openly run by police officers – and accounts designed to be anonymous – would send her threatening messages. Malicious complaints were filed directly to her employers, and her home address and children’s names were shared online. Karlsen’s colleagues were attempting to intimidate her into withdrawing her complaint, while punishing her for filing it, but she refused to falter.
On 21st April 2023, the Metropolitan Police responded to her complaint and confirmed misconduct proceedings will be initiated against Karlsen. Her vindication took over a year to achieve.
At the time, Alice said the following: “All I wanted at the beginning of this was for him to think about what he was posting and how it reflected on policing and impacted victims. I wish he would have reflected on that. It would have ended at individual learning, but now he is facing a misconduct hearing. This type of persistent arrogance and untouchability must be wiped out of the force.”
Upon hearing of Karlsen’s guilty plea at court today, she said the following: “If the Met had listened to me nearly two years ago when I told them he was an abusive bully then maybe this assault wouldn’t have happened.”
READ MORE: Female officers ‘traded like cattle depending on how sexy they were’
Institutionally racist, misogynistic, and homophobic
The Baroness Casey Review, a long-overdue confession of the Metropolitan Police’s toxic attitudes and practices, that have created a policing body that is too closely associated with injustice, a brazen disregard for protocol, and a judge, jury, and executioner power dynamic describes a public body that “sees scrutiny as an unwelcome intrusion”; it echoes Alice’s outcry.
We see an officer, in all his bravado, demonstrating a complete disregard for the public’s trust that the police will protect and serve those that reside in our country.
When confronted with his departure from that which is acceptable, he then launches a clear, concerted, laser-focused attack against a former member of this same body – somebody he should share comradery with, somebody who would understand his civil duty more than anybody else, somebody who would clearly only have his best interests at heart.
The walls the disgraced officers tweets would situate within the minds of any female who read them would be difficult to undo, and the fact that other upholders of the law would seek to assist in its continued creation paints a damning picture of policing, but exactly that which the Casey Review described. And let’s not ignore that Karlsen’s accuser was female.
The Met have said misconduct proceedings will follow his guilty plea. We will follow this case.