Officer ‘stripped of the privilege of wearing police uniform’ over abuse of position
An officer has been sacked after making undocumented visits to a vulnerable woman’s home.
Police Sergeant Neil Nash was dismissed without notice last week after a disciplinary panel found he had breached expected standards by repeatedly visiting a woman and attempting to “intimately touch” her.
The former Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officer cautioned the woman, aged in her 50s, following her arrest in December 2015 over a domestic incident.
He visited her at her home later that day and returned again two days later.
Sgt Nash attempted to kiss the woman during one of these visits, which she consented to.
However, she moved when he tried to intimately touch her, for which he apologised.
He visited her home again in May 2016 and sat outside in a police vehicle before offering her a lift.
The woman complained to the MPS in March 2016, prompting the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) to launch an investigation.
This inquiry ended in January 2017 and the force agreed Sgt Nash had a case to answer for misconduct.
The Crown Prosecution Service declined to bring charges against the officer.
IOPC regional director Jonathan Green said: “Officers are trusted to uphold professional standards of behaviour especially then they come into contact with people who are at their most vulnerable.
“Instead of providing the service expected of a sergeant, Sgt Nash abused his position of trust, overstepped clear boundaries, and caused psychological harm to this woman.
“Our investigation concluded that Sgt Nash had a case to answer for gross misconduct, an opinion which was shared by the MPS. The force subsequently arranged for the officer to appear before an independent disciplinary board and I believe the panel were right in their conclusion to strip Sgt Nash of the privilege of wearing a police uniform.”