A Metropolitan Police officer who abused his position as an officer to pursue his former girlfriend in a six-month stalking campaign has been handed a suspended prison sentence.
PC Jonathan Simon, 44, met the woman when he was on duty when called out to a neighbour dispute, and struck up a romantic relationship with her.
But after they split up, he refused to leave her alone and repeatedly showed up outside her home.
In one incident, Simon enlisted the help of a fellow Met officer to target the woman and he used a work phone number to try to call her.
At Westminster magistrates court on Tuesday, District Judge Daniel Sternberg said Simon had been “the very opposite of a positve role model” and had forced the woman to move home to get away from him.
“You now accept your conduct amounted to an error in judgement and recklessness”, he added.
The judge referred to recent scandals that have engulfed the Met, including the Casey review which found institutionalised sexism, racism, and homophobia, and said Simon had “brought the Metropolitan Police into disrepute”.
Simon, a police officer for ten years who received a Commendation for his work tackling drug dealing in Ilford, was handed a 16-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, with 200 hours of community service and 25 days in rehab.
He must wear a GPS monitoring tag for the next six months, and has been banned from contacting the woman under the terms of a restraining order. He was also ordered to pay £900 in costs.
The court heard Simon, who was part of the East Area Command Unit, now faces dismissal from the Met following his conviction for stalking at trial last month.
After the breakdown of the relationship with the woman, when Simon had suggested she become a sex worker to earn extra money, she blocked calls and texts from the officer’s personal phone.
But he used a police number to make a series of calls, and after being told to stop contacting her, Simon turned up with a fellow police officer at her home.
“Another officer knocked on the door and when the complainant opened the door they stepped aside and the complainant saw you”, said the judge.
The woman said she had been left feeling “helpless, weak and scared” when Simon insisted on speaking to her alone.
She left him voicenotes trying to end the contact, but Simon turned up at her home again and was seen loitering outside by a neighbour, pretending to be investigating an unsecure window.
He also insisted on a hug during a chance encounter at a shopping centre.
Simon was suspended from duty during his criminal case, and now faces a misconduct hearing.
He was supported in court by members of his family, who put forward character references and said Simon is relied on as a carer.
He was given a suspended prison sentence after being assessed as a low-risk of re-offending, as well as the impact a spell behind bars would have on his family.
Following the trial, Chief Superintendent Stuart Bell, responsible for policing in East Area Command Unit, said: "PC Simon’s behaviour was unwarranted, unwanted and caused significant concern to the victim. Our officers cannot behave like this and we will be proactive in identifying and taking positive action against those who do.
"Despite being repeatedly asked to stop he subjected the victim to a campaign of harassment which caused her considerable distress. He abused his position as a police officer and has now rightly been convicted as a result."
