A former police community support officer has won a legal settlement from North Yorkshire Police after being suspended, dismissed for gross misconduct and placed on a national barred list — solely because he asked questions about Islam during mandatory diversity training, his lawyers say.
Luke Salmons, a PCSO supported by the Christian Legal Centre, brought claims of constructive dismissal, direct and indirect religious discrimination, harassment under the Equality Act 2010 and unlawful interference with his rights under Articles 9 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The case has now settled on confidential terms without reaching an Employment Tribunal.
The events that ended Salmons’ policing career began in autumn 2024, when he attended a compulsory pilot training programme on race, religion and culture delivered by external trainers. During one session, he says trainers repeatedly walked up and down the room chanting “Islam is a religion of peace.” “At that point,” Salmons said, “it stopped being training and became indoctrination.”
The pivotal exchange took place on 8 October 2024, during a section of the training delivered by a Muslim police sergeant, at which participants were explicitly told they were free to discuss difficult topics. Salmons asked the sergeant his thoughts on Gaza and Islamist groups committing atrocities in the name of Islam, then followed up with a question about the term “jihad.” He described the exchange as respectful, and the sergeant invited him to continue the conversation over coffee. Salmons also referenced the book Answering Jihad by former Muslim author Nabeel Qureshi, and later brought it to work in case it was requested, but says he never offered it to anyone.
Two days later, he was suspended. During his suspension, a colleague accessed his locker without his consent, removed the book and circulated photographs of it to senior officers. A female inspector also emailed a superintendent copying in the Professional Standards Department — what Salmons alleges was an improper attempt to influence what should have been an independent investigation. In that email, the inspector described him as an “organisational risk” with “racist and homophobic” views. These allegations were never put to him for response and are believed to relate to his questions during training.
Despite writing to senior officers in March 2025 explaining the toll the suspension was taking on his mental health and family, and requesting to return to work, his letter went unanswered. He resigned in April 2025 under the sustained pressure. North Yorkshire Police then convened a gross misconduct hearing in his absence and dismissed him in July 2025, placing him on the Police Barred List — potentially preventing him from ever working in policing again.
However, Salmons appealed and was vindicated. Chief Constable Tim Forber wrote to him confirming the gross misconduct finding was overturned: “I do not find that this represents a breach amounting to gross misconduct of any of the Police Staff Standards of Professional Behaviour. I believe these matters could potentially have been dealt with more appropriately in-line with reflective learning.” He confirmed Salmons would not appear on the College of Policing barred list.
Speaking after the settlement, Salmons said: “This process devastated me and my family. For months we lived in total uncertainty, with my reputation being shredded in secret. 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. I am pleased to have now reached a settlement, I want to move on with my life but believe radical national change is needed in our police force.”
Andrea Williams, Chief Executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said the case exposed how inclusivity training had “become a vehicle for enforcing a narrow ideological orthodoxy, where only approved views are permitted and lawful questioning is punished.” She added: “Luke was explicitly invited to speak openly in what was presented as a safe space, only to be suspended, investigated, and driven out for doing exactly that. The message this sends is chilling: that Islam and prevailing secular orthodoxy is now treated as beyond question, while Christians and others are subjected to disproportionate scrutiny and sanction simply for asking reasonable questions during training.”
North Yorkshire Police were approached for comment.
