‘Abhorrent’ cop thrown out the force

A Met Police sergeant who sexually assaulted two women has been found guilty of gross misconduct for his ‘abhorrent’ behaviour.

Pol Sgt Paul Storey told one of his victims the only reason he had sex with her from behind was so did not have to look at her face.

The officer,,previously attached to East Area Command Unit, subjected both women to sexual assaults, physical assaults and coercive control between 2013 to 2017.

Storey was identified after he was found guilty of gross misconduct following an eleven day misconduct hearing.

He resigned from the force last September but the Met Police misconduct panel ruled Story would have been dismissed without notice had he still been serving.

Local area commander Chief Superintendent Stuart Bell said: ‘The behaviour of former Sgt Paul Storey is abhorrent.

‘He subjected two women to a number of sexual and physical assaults as well as coercive and controlling behaviour.

‘It is hardly necessary for me to say that his behaviour has fallen very far below what we expect of our police officers.

‘This type of abuse has a lasting and significant impact on victims and we take all allegations extremely seriously.

‘We know it is really shocking to hear a police officer is capable of carrying out such behaviour.

‘As part of work to rebuild the trust Londoners have in us, we have created a new dedicated team focused on investigating allegations of sexual misconduct as well as domestic abuse involving our officers and staff.

‘This team improves our ability to identify patterns of concerning behaviour.

‘While we’re working really hard on this, it will be of little consolation to the women former Sgt Storey abused and our thoughts are with them.’

The first victim had told the hearing in Fulham, southwest London: ‘When I first met him I was very young. Naïve I suppose.

‘Suddenly you go from university surrounded by people by and large your own age who had never been employed and in the police, you suddenly meet men who have life experience from the people they’ve come into contact with.

‘It’s impressive. There’s that air of authority. I’ve always been brought up that the police are amazing.’

She said Storey’s coercive and controlling behaviour started immediately as he began ‘love bombing’ and ‘gaslighting’ her.

‘He told me very quickly that he loved me, I was amazing, I was beautiful.’

He would constantly call, text, post on her Facebook wall and send her love songs that reminded him of her and pictures of love quotes.

The officer invited her to come and work on his team whenever she wanted, which she saw as a ‘really good opportunity’.

‘Lots of red flags for me – but at the time I’d never experienced anyone or anything like it,’ she said.

The allegations came to light in 2017 after both the complainants got into contact through a third party to discuss the abuse that they had both experienced.

The first victim said: ‘I’d had a number of conversations with various supervisors.

‘I had brought up controlling and coercive and financial abuse before.

During an hour-long phone conservation, the two women discussed the similarities between the abuse that they suffered.

‘I did do the right thing by allowing the contact to happen,’ she said.

‘We first spoke about what he told her about me.

‘With anyone he’d ever been with he’d always reference them as a “psycho” – they’re mental.

‘He used to refer to everyone as a “c**t” and a ‘mental c**t’. She actually did confirm to me that he told her that I was a “psycho”.

‘He had told her that he had never laid a hand on me but that I had slapped him.’

The two women discussed how Storey assaulted them both by grabbing their throats.

The other woman told her that she was raped by the sergeant.

‘I remember saying…he also raped me, he forced himself on me.

‘I was so sad to hear the reply.

‘She said, “I’m so sorry, he did that to me too”.

‘That was the worst sentence I’ve ever heard in my life because I thought it was my fault.

‘I felt like if I’d have been strong enough to report him in the first place then maybe he wouldn’t have forced himself on her.

‘I wanted her to know that it wasn’t normal and I wanted to make her feel like her life would be okay again.’

Following that conversation, the woman made official allegations of rape and assault to her supervisors.

She said: ‘I desperately didn’t want to make this allegation because I knew what happen, I knew how I would be treated, I knew my life would become hellish, I knew I would become the subject of gossip.

‘I was desperate not to make this allegation and the reason I made it was to protect another woman and future women.’

Andrew Waters, counsel for the Appropriate Authorities, said there was a ‘degree of similarity’ between his behaviour with both women.

Storey assaulted the second woman several times including hitting her over the head with a whisky bottle around New Year’s Eve 2014.

‘His account is that she lunged towards him and he put his hands up instinctively to protect himself and to stop her,’ said Mr Waters.

‘He says he doesn’t know for sure but he accepts that the bottle of whiskey that was in his hands may have made contact with her but he says categorically he didn’t hit her.’

The officer also assaulted the woman in a car park of the Jack Brown Patrol Base.

Storey was found guilty of breaching the standards of professional behaviour in relation to discreditable conduct.

The panel also found that his actions brought discredit on the police force and/or undermined public confidence in it.

ENDS