A serving Metropolitan Police officer has been dismissed without notice after an allegation of sexual assault.
A misconduct hearing which closed on 8 January found that Detective Constable Kamal Baldeo had grossly breached police standards of professional behaviour after being accused of engaging in non-consensual sexual activity in Brighton with a woman he met via an online dating site.
A criminal investigation launched in 2021 by Sussex Police concluded in the following year without any further action, but the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards began an investigation which determined DC Baldeo would face a hearing.
South west London policing lead Detective Chief Superintendent Clair Kelland said: “Despite no further action in the criminal proceedings, we take allegations of this nature extremely seriously.
“It took a great deal of courage for the complainant to contact police, and she deserved a comprehensive and thorough investigation.
“Our Directorate of Professional Standards works tirelessly to ensure our officers meet the highest of standards and DC Baldeo’s actions fell very far below these.”
The hearing found the allegation DC Baldeo had breached police standards of professional behaviour for discreditable conduct proven at gross misconduct, resulting in his dismissal.
The Guardian reported on the 13 January that, according to official figures, nearly 1.9million violent or sexual crimes in England and Wales were closed without a suspect being caught or charged in the year to June 2024.
The report from the Office for National Statistics data in the same year said that over the past ten years, incidents of sexual assault had increased.
It also concluded that latest estimates suggested that that fewer than one in six victims of rape or assault by penetration reported the crime to the police.
