A South Wales Police volunteer who was heard shouting “Heil Hitler” and “Kill the British Pig Dogs” from his home before officers discovered racist and antisemitic material on his electronic devices would have been sacked had he not already resigned.
Former special constable Pedro Gordo-Soares was found guilty of gross misconduct following a disciplinary hearing into seven allegations involving extremist language, offensive images and racist social media messages.
The former officer, who was serving with South Wales Police at the time of the incidents, was arrested after members of the public reported hearing disturbing remarks coming from his home.
A subsequent search uncovered five cartoon images described as racist or antisemitic, alongside a social media conversation featuring racial slurs and a reference to the Nazi SS.
In one message, Gordo-Soares even appeared to acknowledge the risk of losing his police position, writing: “I literally sent it yes because I am a policemen and I can be charged with gross misconduct and lose my job”.
Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan condemned his behaviour as “abhorrent” and said he should never have joined the police with such views.
In a devastating conclusion, he declared: “He should never have sought to be a part of the police with these views and I and barred him so that he never will be.”
The accelerated misconduct hearing, held on August 28, 2026, ruled that Gordo-Soares would have been dismissed immediately if he had not already resigned.
‘War is the only way’
The case began on Sunday, August 10, 2025, when South Wales Police received reports from members of the public about shouting coming from Gordo-Soares’ home.
According to the allegations presented at the hearing, the words included “War is the only way”, “Kill, Kill, Kill”, “Killing is the only way” and “The British Nation is inferior”.
Other reported remarks included “We must Kill the British Pig Dogs” and “Heil Hitler”.
Gordo-Soares was a serving special constable when the incident occurred.
Police officers attended his home and arrested him.
During a search of the property, they seized a laptop and a tablet, both of which were subsequently subjected to forensic examination.
What investigators discovered formed the basis of six further misconduct allegations.
Racist cartoons and Nazi references
Five cartoon images were recovered from the electronic devices.
Two were found on the laptop’s hard drive, while three were discovered on the tablet.
South Wales Police maintained that four of the images were racist and the fifth was antisemitic.
The images were included in the disciplinary case, although the chief constable did not reproduce their contents in his written decision.
Investigators also examined a social media conversation found on the tablet.
The exchange contained racial slurs and references to Nazi ideology.
In one message, Gordo-Soares wrote: “Make Europe SS again”.
In another, referring to a group that had repeatedly been deleted, he wrote: “Oh I remember that group got deleted so may time it’s incredible, but it was wholesome”.
He also referred to having deactivated his Facebook account.
Most strikingly, another message suggested he was aware that sending such material could have serious consequences for his position in policing.
He wrote: “I literally sent it yes because I am a policemen and I can be charged with gross misconduct and lose my job”.
The force argued that his conduct breached the professional standard of Discreditable Conduct, which requires officers to behave in a way that does not undermine public confidence in policing, whether on or off duty.
Officer admitted allegations but denied gross misconduct
Gordo-Soares had resigned from his voluntary policing role by the time his case reached a disciplinary hearing.
He did not attend the proceedings and informed the force that he did not want legal representation or assistance from a Police Federation representative.
However, he provided a written response in which he accepted the seven allegations and acknowledged breaching professional standards.
He disputed the seriousness of the case, arguing that his behaviour amounted to misconduct rather than gross misconduct.
Chief Constable Vaughan rejected that distinction.
In his written decision, he stated: “Having carefully considered all the evidence, on the balance of probabilities, I have no hesitation in finding all the allegations to be proved.”
He found that the former officer had brought discredit on South Wales Police and undermined public confidence in the service.
The chief constable said Gordo-Soares had held a position of trust and responsibility and that his behaviour represented a serious abuse of that trust.
He described the language used as “simply awful” and identified significant aggravating factors.
These included that the behaviour was premeditated, intentional and deliberate, continued when the officer should have recognised it was improper, and involved multiple breaches of professional standards.
‘Complete lack of remorse’
The hearing also considered whether there were any circumstances that might reduce the seriousness of the misconduct.
Chief Constable Vaughan acknowledged that Gordo-Soares had resigned and appeared to have accepted at least some responsibility for what he had done.
But he said that deserved only a very small amount of credit.
He found no mitigating factors capable of reducing the seriousness of the conduct.
In particularly critical remarks, the chief constable said: “Former Special Constable Gordo-Soares has not put forward any personal mitigation. He has not even apologised for his actions and there is a complete lack of remorse.”
The hearing was also told that the former special constable had made separate allegations which could disclose misconduct by other police officers and police staff.
Those claims were referred to South Wales Police’s Professional Standards Department for assessment and investigation.
However, the chief constable made clear that those allegations offered Gordo-Soares no protection from the proceedings against him.
‘Should never have sought to be part of the police’
Delivering his decision, Chief Constable Vaughan said there was only one appropriate outcome.
He stated: “In the circumstances, there is only one possible outcome which I am able to impose, and I have absolutely no hesitation in doing so.”
He ruled that Gordo-Soares would have been immediately dismissed had he remained a special constable.
The chief constable added: “There is no room in South Wales Police for this type of behaviour.”
He stressed that professional standards applied to officers both on and off duty.
“All police officers, including special constables should be trusted to the ends of the earth,” he said.
He also sought to reassure the public that the vast majority of officers, police staff and volunteers served their communities to high professional standards.
Referring specifically to Gordo-Soares, he said that volunteers had limited and infrequent public contact, which would have been closely supervised.
But he made clear that the former officer’s views were fundamentally incompatible with policing.
The hearing concluded that all seven allegations were proven and amounted to gross misconduct.
Gordo-Soares’ case will be referred to the College of Policing so his name can be placed on the Police Barred List, preventing him from returning to policing in England and Wales while barred.
