A police officer from Essex has been fired from his job after admitting to “tragedy chanting” at Liverpool fans during a Premier League match last year. The misconduct proceedings were triggered after Sgt Tyler Coppin was found guilty of this public order offence during the Liverpool game against Chelsea at Anfield last October. Stewards at the ground had reported hearing Coppin chanting in the direction of the Liverpool supporters and he was subsequently removed from the stands and apprehended.
The Crown Prosecution Service has defined tragedy chanting as chanting, singing or making gestures in a derogatory manner towards other supporters and is particularly used in relation to disasters or accidents involving players or supporters. Coppin, who had an unblemished record as a police officer prior to this incident, was ordered to pay out £645 in fines and costs and was also handed a three-year football banning order in relation to the incident.
On Friday, a serious misconduct panel led by the Chief Constable of Essex, Ben-Julian Harrington, dismissed Coppin from the force without notice, also placing him on the College of Policing barred list. The panel concluded that Coppin had violated the standards of professional behaviour associated with honesty and integrity, respect and courtesy, discreditable conduct and authority.
Whilst Harrington noted that Coppin had exhibited remorse for his actions and might not have fully appreciated the impact of his words, he affirmed that “behaviour such as this cannot and will not be tolerated in policing.” His chief concern was that the actions of officers of the law must serve to uphold its tenets, rather than flout them. Authorities in Merseyside have promised to suppress this kind of behaviour at football events in the same way that other hate crimes are addressed.
Officials at Chelsea Football Club have already implemented a fan warning in relation to this kind of behaviour, described as hateful chanting, earlier this year, whilst three Arsenal fans received three-year banning orders last year for similar offences during a match against Liverpool at the Emirates stadium
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