Police officer sacked after rape complaint

A police sergeant was sacked today after sending junior staff home early so he could have sex with a woman colleague in his office.

An investigation was launched after the woman complained she had been raped at a police building in Islington, north London.

The sergeant was arrested by investigators from the Metropolitan Police's directorate of professional standards last August.

A file was handed to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) but no charges were brought.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said today the officer has been "dismissed with immediate effect" after a disciplinary hearing.

The incident took place on August 5 last year when the sergeant sent several community support officers home early.

This left the police building he worked in empty so he could have sex with a civilian colleague.

Rachel Cerfontyne, of the IPCC, said: "The Met misconduct panel found that this woman was vulnerable and that the police sergeant engineered a situation whereby he was alone with her in a police building.

"Behaviour of this kind falls far below the standards expected from a police officers and it will not be tolerated."