Metropolitan Police officer who kept job after solo sex act on train to have case reviewed

A police officer who remained in his job after being caught masturbating on a train is having his case reviewed, MPs have been told.

The Metropolitan Police officer was given a final written warning rather than being dismissed over the solo sex act.

The decision followed a conviction in 2018 for outraging public decency, the Commons Home Affairs Committee heard on Wednesday.

Deputy Mayor of London Sophie Linden told MPs the case is among 1,100 files from the past 10 years being reviewed by the Met to ensure the correct decisions were made.

The force is carrying out a review of cases where officers and staff had been accused of domestic violence or sexual offences but remained with the force.

It was launched in the wake of the case of former Met officer David Carrick, who was unmasked as one of the UK’s most prolific sex offenders.

Committee chairwoman Dame Diana Johnson said: “He was actually convicted but he wasn’t dismissed from the Metropolitan Police, he’s still serving as I understand it, that officer is still in post, although he’s not in a position where he’s front-facing with the public.”

Ms Linden replied: “It is unacceptable and the current leadership of the Metropolitan Police have made it really clear that that’s unacceptable.

“That decision was made in the previous regime and its current leadership has made it very clear that that is a decision that would not have been taken under the present leadership at the Metropolitan Police.”

Concerns have been raised about indecent exposure as a potential gateway to more serious crimes after the case of Wayne Couzens, who went on to commit murder.

He was accused of three counts of indecent exposure but remained working as a police officer.

Ms Linden told the committee that the Met’s detection rate for offences involving violence against women and girls is “plummeting” – this refers to cases where a suspect has been identified.

She said: "The culture within the Metropolitan Police is one which needs to radically change, there is a real issue with the way in which, internally and externally, women and girls are being treated.

“We can see that in terms of the confidence that women have in the Met, that has fallen, as it has with other communities as well.

“But also, there’s an issue around detections, around those offences – we put them in violence against women and girls – rape, sexual offences, domestic abuse, those detection rates are really plummeting.

“There’s two things going on, I think there’s cultural problems and there’s also this issue around the service that’s being delivered particularly to women victims that has meant that trust and confidence has really fallen.”

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