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08
Jun
North Yorkshire Police settles ex-employee's claim over Islam dispute
A police community support officer who claims he was forced out of his job when he asked probing questions concerning Islam has won a settlement from North Yorkshire Police.
Luke Salmons, from Harrogate, was suspended from his job in October 2024 following reports of concern about his behaviour from several colleagues.
He resigned in May 2025 prior to a disciplinary hearing taking place and was subsequently found by a panel to have committed gross misconduct and was barred from police work.
Mr Salmons’ appeal against this decision was upheld by the chief constable of North Yorkshire Police, Tim Forber, who found that while there were concerns over behaviour, they did not represent gross misconduct or a breach of any of the police staff standards of professional behaviour.
Tim Forber, chief constable of North Yorkshire Police.
As a consequence, Mr Salmons was removed from the College of Policing barred list.
However, he took legal action, alleging that North Yorkshire Police unlawfully discriminated against him because of his Christian beliefs and violated his rights to freedom of religion and expression under the European Convention on Human Rights.
'Safe space'
In a case covered at the weekend by the Telegraph, Mr Salmons said the issues began in autumn 2024 when he attended a compulsory pilot training programme intended to help develop a new North Yorkshire Police policy on race, religion and culture.
The course was delivered by external trainers and presented as a “safe space” where officers were encouraged to ask challenging questions.
Speaking of a session on race, religion and culture, Mr Salmons said:
The whole day was pretty much about Islam. At one point the trainers walked up and down the room for several minutes saying ‘Islam is a religion of peace’ over and over again. It was bizarre.
On another occasion, when asked to write a piece about Easter for the internal staff intranet, he claimed he was instructed that it could not include Bible verses.
In October 2024 during a section of the culture, race and religion course, Mr Salmons had a “respectful but robust” exchange with a Muslim police sergeant about Gaza and the concept of jihad.
Mr Salmons said:
I believed I was on safe ground when the training sessions invited open discussion. I quickly discovered that questioning Islam is now treated as wrongthink within North Yorkshire Police. I felt pushed out.
'Training covers multiple faiths'
But North Yorkshire Police challenged Mr Salmons’ account. In a statement issued following publication of the Telegraph article it said:
Cultural awareness training involves learning about topics such as identity and belonging, hate crime, race, ethnicity, culture and nationality and policing minority communities.
It does not involve chanting or religious indoctrination as stated in the [Telegraph] article.
The training covers multiple faiths and beliefs. It is important for our communities that we have the necessary understanding to police without fear or favour and to provide an outstanding service to the people of York and North Yorkshire to keep them safe and feeling safe.
We work as one team to put victims and the wider community at the heart of everything we do so that we can reduce crime and ensure justice for victims.
The force also quoted data from a workforce survey carried out by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, which found that 92.5% of North Yorkshire Police colleagues said they felt fairly treated by co-workers, and 89.9% said their line manager challenged discriminatory behaviour.
Mr Salmons is understood to now work for a homelessness charity.
The monetary value of his settlement from North Yorkshire Police has not been revealed.
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