By Sammie Jones-
A married Newham policeman who made a string of sexually explicit approaches towards colleagues as been dismissed without notice for gross misconduct.
Pc Lee Harrison was presented with 31 allegations against him, including telling a policewoman he wanted to tie her up and force her to watch him perform a solo sex act on himself.
A panel which met at the Met Empress State Building Offices ruled that Harrison breached the Met’s standards of professional behaviour after finding the majority of allegations proven as gross misconduct.
The three member panel listened to a catalogue of damning evidence against Harrison in connection with sexual misconduct. He told one rookie policewoman, referred to as Officer A, that he wanted to do “awful things” to her. Harrison was also accused of referring to rookie female colleagues as jokes and at a Christmas party attempted to undo a colleague’s bra, the panel heard.
It was also alleged during the hearing that he sent one officer a picture of two naked women and asked which one she looked like most. The panel were also told that Harrison said to Officer A while they were on duty: “I don’t know why women are allowed in this job, if they don’t put out”. The allegations are an embarrassment to the police force and makes one wonder how many other pervert officers exist who have not been detected probably because they have kept their misconduct limited.
Misconduct by police officers do not necessarily mean that all officers are like that. Most police officers are believed to be respectable and law abiding, but there is general perception that many dodgy ones remain undetected.
In a further allegation, Harrison was accused of grabbing a female colleague, referred to as Officer B, forcing her over a desk, and threatening to kick her in the uterus if she reached for a box of doughnuts.A second policeman, Harrison’s supervising officer, Sgt Stuart Murray, received a final written warning after allegations against him were proven as gross misconduct. He faced allegations that he had failed to challenge Harrison’s behaviour.
The disgraced officer was also alleged to have made comments of a sexual nature in a Whatsapp group set up to discuss options for the Christmas party. One message sent stated: “I will come as long as there’s a stripper”, the panel heard.
Sgt Murray faced further allegations that he allowed an overly-sexualised atmosphere to develop and neglected his duties by not turning up to work for a number of weeks.
Richard Atchley, representing Sgt Murray, said on day one of the hearing: “[Pc Harrison] was a Jekyll and Hyde capable of being smarmy and sweet when he wanted to be then a completely unacceptable animal.” Harrison’s photograph has not been released because the Met does not treat misconduct by the police on the same footing as criminal behaviour.