MPS dismisses officer for sexual assault

Following an Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) managed investigation, the Metropolitan Police Service has dismissed a trainee detective constable after a misconduct hearing found that he sexually assaulted a vulnerable female. IPCC Commissioner Rachel Cerfontyne said: "This was a despicable abuse of a trusted position, which left a vulnerable young woman traumatised. She was subjected to assault and violation by a police officer. The officer has rightly been dismissed." The officer, aged 32, was based at Hounslow police station when he met the woman on a website dedicated to marriage introductions. The officer was married but he falsely claimed on the website to be a single police officer living alone. The Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) investigation began in January 2010 after the woman he assaulted informed her local police station of the incident. The investigation that followed involved interviewing both the officer and the woman - reviewing email and text message exchanges prior to and following the incident. It concluded in April 2010 and the officer was charged with three sexual offences that were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service in December 2010. During a misconduct hearing, the panel was told that the officer and his victim had agreed to meet at a tube station in South West London and go for a coffee, after email exchanges over a couple of days. However, the officer arrived in his car and drove the woman to a police section house in Brentford. When the woman expressed concern with the change of plans, he reassured her and showed her his warrant card. the court found that the officer was not a resident officer at the section house at the time and had no permission to take a member of the public into the building. Whilst there, he sexually assaulted her. The misconduct panel found the allegations of sexual assault proven.