PCSO Luke Salmons: 'Questioning Islam is now treated as 'wrongthink' within North Yorkshire Police'
A North Yorkshire police officer suspended after raising questions about Islam during a diversity training session has won a legal settlement from the force.
Former PCSO Luke Salmons took legal action against chief constable Tom Forber alleging the force unlawfully discriminated against him because of his Christian beliefs.
His claim centred on events in autumn 2024 when Mr Salmons attended a training session on race, religion and culture, delivered by external trainers, presented as a “safe space” where officers could ask challenging questions.
During one session, Mr Salmons, 46, recalls trainers repeatedly walking up and down the room chanting: “Islam is a religion of peace.” He said: “At that point it stopped being training and became indoctrination”.
On October 8, 2024, during another session led by a Muslim police sergeant, Mr Salmons, from Harrogate, asked for his thoughts on Gaza and groups like Hamas which committ atrocities in the name of Islam. Again he said participants were told explicitly that they could discuss difficult topics.
He also asked how the sergeant understood the term “jihad”.
On a separate occasion during antisemitism training he was “shut down by his inspector for asking relevant questions about how the government was tackling antisemitism”. He was later reported for being “combative and critical of the views expressed in the training”.
He was suspended on October 10, 2024. He eventually resigned in April 2025. He was accused of “discreditable conduct,” expressing religious and political beliefs “not aligned with NYP policies,” and having a “targeted intent” to push his views on Islam at a hearing in July 2025. He was dismissed for gross misconduct and placed on the College of Policing barred list.
With the help of the Christian Legal Centre he successfully appealed the ruling. Chief Constable Forber found while Mr Salmons made people “feel uncomfortable and unsettled” this did not amount to gross misconduct and he would not be blacklisted.
Mr Salmons reached an out-of-court settlement in April. Now working for a charity for the homeless, he said the most frightening moment was being effectively banned from policing for life: “I have always served the public with integrity, and to be told that asking honest questions made me unfit to be an officer was crushing.
“I resigned not because I had done anything wrong, but because the silence, the delay and the pressure became unbearable for my wife and children.”
Although the sessions invited open discussion: “I quickly discovered that questioning Islam is now treated as wrongthink within NYP.”
NYP denied that training involved chanting or religious indoctrination. It added: “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.”