A Met Police officer who stalked his former girlfriend in a six-month campaign has been fired from the force.
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. The victim moved home in a bid to avoid him.
In a decision published on Friday, a misconduct panel dismissed Simon, an officer in east London, noting that much of the campaign of stalking “occurred while PC Simon was on duty”.
He was given a suspended sentence of sixteen weeks, community service, and ordered to stay away from the victim indefinitely at court earlier this year.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court had heard that 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, turned up with a fellow police officer at her home.
The woman said she had been left feeling “helpless, weak and scared” by the behaviour.
Upholding a finding of gross misconduct, Assistant Commissioner Barbara Gray said: “This was very grave misconduct which undermines public confidence in policing as well as our reputation.
“The public could not have confidence in PC Simon after he has shown himself capable of behaving in such a way.”
She added that she believed the only appropriate sanction was dismissal without notice.
PC Simon, who was suspended when criminal proceedings began, did not engage with the disciplinary panel, the document states.
