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Two Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers who failed to adequately investigate the alleged sexual assault of a vulnerable man in Plumstead, south-east London, have been given final written warnings following our investigation.

A disciplinary panel – organised by the force and with a legally-qualified chair – found gross misconduct proven against Police Constables (PCs) Paul Quinney and Amy Weatherley following a five-day hearing, which ended on 2 July. The hearing was adjourned until 31 August when the panel delivered its findings.

We started our independent investigation in November 2019 following the referral of a complaint from the complainant and his father.

The panel heard the officers were dismissive of the allegations, did not properly question the victim to gather an account of the incident, nor record any crime despite ample evidence to suggest sexual assault and theft of a mobile phone. They did not refer the case to the specialist MPS unit which deals with rape and sexual assault.

Despite being aware of the man’s disability the officers failed to make reasonable adjustments for him, such as adjusting their questioning style to give him more time to respond. Instead, the complainant was treated as a suspect and the officers were disrespectful in their dealings with him.

The officers also failed to secure forensic evidence from the victim or the scene, did not safeguard him as a vulnerable sexual assault complainant, and failed to activate their Body Worn Video (BWV) cameras in situations where it was mandatory to do so.

They were found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour in relation to duties and responsibilities; orders and instructions; authority, respect and courtesy; and equality and diversity. A potential breach of the standards of professional behaviour in relation to honesty and integrity was not proven.

IOPC Regional Director, Sal Naseem, yesterday said:

“This is a shocking case of a vulnerable man whose distress was disregarded by these two officers, who failed to investigate his serious allegation of sexual assault and treated him less favourably because of his disability.

“The impact of a sexual assault on a victim cannot be underestimated and it takes courage for them to report such a deeply violating and distressing event to police. This man deserved to be treated with respect and sensitivity but instead he was subject to a catalogue of failures by these two officers.

“Such behaviour seriously undermines public trust and confidence in the police and the panel’s sanctions are a clear message that it will not be tolerated.”

At the conclusion of our investigation in July 2020 we shared our findings with the MPS which agreed there was a case to answer for gross misconduct against both officers.

During our investigation, we obtained accounts from both police officers, from the victim and his father, and from other police officers who were involved in the incident. We also gathered and examined BWV footage, incident logs, audit logs, material from the subsequent sexual assault investigation and the relevant legislation and MPS policy.