Former Met Police sergeant raped and assaulted two women while an officer, misconduct probe finds

A FORMER police sergeant raped and assaulted two women and subjected them to coercive and controlling behaviour, while he was an officer, a misconduct hearing has determined.

The former Met Police Sergeant would have been dismissed without notice had he still been serving for his “abhorrent” behaviour in raping and assaulting the two women, the misconduct panel found.

The misconduct finding had led to questions over what happened with any criminal investigation into the offences, which was undertaken by Essex Police, according to the Met.

A response is awaited from Essex about what happened with any criminal investigation.

Allegations that he had breached the standards of professional behaviour in relation to discreditable conduct were proven as gross misconduct at the end of the 11-day hearing.

The officer was previously attached to East Area Command Unit before resigning but this did not prevent misconduct proceedings from taking place.

Local area commander Chief Superintendent Stuart Bell, said: “The behaviour of this former sergeant is abhorrent. He subjected two women known to him to a number of sexual and physical assaults as well as coercive and controlling behaviour.

“It is hardly necessary for me to say that his behaviour has fallen very far below what we expect of our police officers.

“This type of abuse has a lasting and significant impact on victims and we take all allegations extremely seriously.

“We know it is really shocking to hear a police officer is capable of carrying out such behaviour and as part of work to rebuild the trust Londoners have in us, we have created a new dedicated team focused on investigating allegations of sexual misconduct as well as domestic abuse involving our officers and staff. This team improves our ability to identify patterns of concerning behaviour.

“While we’re working really hard on this, it will be of little consolation to the women he abused and our thoughts are with them.”

The hearing heard that between 2012 and 2014 the former officer subjected one woman to controlling or coercive behaviour, including locking her out of a house on a hot day when she was unwell and refusing her water, deliberately isolating her from her friends and family and monitoring her social media accounts.

On 30 October 2013 he grabbed her by the throat, dragged her down the stairs and threw her onto a table.

On an evening in around January or February 2014, he raped her.

He assaulted the second woman several times; the first time was around New Year’s Eve 2014 when he hit her around the head with a whisky bottle.

On other occasions he grabbed her by the throat, once throwing her against a door frame and later a chest of drawers.

In or around late 2015 or early 2016 he raped her.

In June 2017, after an argument he smashed her framed family photographs.

He also subjected this woman to controlling or coercive behaviour, including deliberately limiting her contact with friends and family and controlling her social media accounts.

He will now be added to the Barred List held by the College of Policing. Those appearing on the list cannot be employed by police, local policing bodies (PCCs), the IOPC or HMIC. The officer resigned and left the Met in early September 2021.