'Sickening': Met detective started sexual relationship with woman he was investigating
13 October 2021, 07:46
A former Met detective started a sexual relationship with a woman who was the named suspect in his investigation.
Ex-Detective Constable John McCarthy started the inappropriate contact with the unnamed woman prior to 13 April 2017 as he looked into potential offences, a misconduct panel was told.
The hearing was told he had "sexual contact" with her, and also engaged in "sexual relations" while on duty on March 2017 and on other occasions.
The panel found McCarthy, who was with the Met's North Area Basic Command Unit, breached the standards of professional behaviour and that he committed gross misconduct.
It found the former officer would have been sacked had he not already resigned on September 5.
Superintendent Simon Crick, commander of the North Area Basic Command Unit, said: "Engaging in a sexual relationship with someone you are investigating as a suspect goes against the core principle that a police officer should discharge his or her duties with fairness, integrity and impartiality.
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"The actions of this individual undermine all of the work that my officers do on a daily basis, which is courageous , professional and carried out with the highest levels of integrity.
"The one positive thing to come out of this is that this individual is no longer a police officer.
"I want our community to know that I am sickened by such behaviour. I hope this demonstrates my commitment and the organisation's commitment to root out any individual who abuses their position of trust as a police officer.
"The public deserve to have trust and confidence in the police and the outcome demonstrates how committed the Met is to rooting out wrongdoing within the organisation."
The ex-officer continued the inappropriate relationship after it was decided that no further action would be taken in the investigation.
He also failed to declare a high level of outstanding debt, did not notify the Met about a County Court summons and a County Court Judgement, and failed to declare gifts he was sent as required by force policy.
McCarthy will on the barred list with the College of Policing.
