A Wiltshire police officer said he ‘did not feel human’ after being racially abused by the TikTok star known as Queen Bee during her arrest.
Influencer Priya Sahi was live streaming to thousands of fans from the Asda Walmart car park in Swindon – less than a mile from her home – in the early hours of 25 October last year.
But police arrived at the location and noticed that the 29-year-old was inebriated in an Audi. She was arrested for being drunk in charge of a motor vehicle.
After being removed from the car and handcuffed, TikTok Live remained on. Sahi could be heard shouting to the officers: “I’ve got no keys in my ignition, no keys in my ignition.
“I’m allowed to park up and drink. I’m not driving, so what are you arresting me for?”
An officer then proceeded to point out numerous bottles of alcohol in the vehicle to his colleague PC Marcin Kozak, who joined Wiltshire Police as their first Polish community support officer in 2018 before progressing to be a constable in 2020.
Sahi told officers “I want my TikTok running” before it the stream ended. After that, she repeatedly told PC Kozak that she doesn’t understand him.
In custody, she went on to state: “Learn English you European whatever you are”. As a result, she was further arrested for a public order offence.
At Swindon Magistrates’ Court on Friday (5 May), Sahi pleaded guilty to a racially-aggravated Section 4A Public Order Act charge.
Prosecutor Keith Ballinger said the defendant has a previous conviction for racially-aggravated assault dating back to 2015.
In a victim personal statement, PC Kozak said that following Sahi’s continuous jibes about this nationality and accent he “did not even feel human at this point”.
He added: “I’m a serving officer and Polish national. It took hard work and courage to become a police officer, I had to prove I speak good enough English and pass tests; I work to exactly the same criteria as my British colleagues.
“Almost every day I’m subject to some sort of derogatory comment.”
The court heard how Sahi was convicted of failing to provide a specimen of breath in relation to this incident. She appeared in court the following day (October 26, 2022), after being remanded in custody overnight.
In a completely separate incident, she was arrested on suspicion of drink driving – but again failed to provide. She later admitted the charge.
As a result, Sahi is currently serving two concurrent driving disqualifications and has accrued hundreds of pounds worth of fines.
Defence solicitor Sandeep Kaushal said his client offers an apology to PC Kozak. He said that she feels “embarrassed” by what she said and hopes her apology can be passed on.
He told the bench that Sahi was going through a “traumatic time” and was in a “frustrated state” explaining her thoughts live on TikTok as police officers surrounded her car.
When they arrested her she “spiralled completely out of control”, Mr Kaushal added. He said she is a single mother to her three-year-old son and is medicated for post-natal depression and anxiety.
The magistrates imposed an £80 fine. She must also pay £85 costs and a £32 surcharge.
Queen Bee has hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of likes on the popular social media platform TikTok. She’s famous for sharing her sometimes controversial views with her audience in regular live streams – speaking a mix of both English and Punjabi. Many of her videos feature her dancing whilst wearing salwar suits, whilst in others she wears skimpy outfits.
