PC sacked after panel finds he raped woman

Jay Callen - not pictured - was dismissed after the panel found he had raped and sexually assaulted a woman

A police officer was sacked by his force after a panel found that he raped and sexually assaulted a woman.

Jay Callen, who worked for Thames Valley Police (TVP), was dismissed after a misconduct panel found “appalling behaviour” proved on the balance of probabilities.

It found that the sexual violence inflicted on the woman was "amongst the most serious of acts that could be committed by any individual, let alone a warranted officer".

Mr Callen denied misconduct and his representative said the woman and the police did not consider a criminal prosecution, despite the “very grave criminal nature” of the allegations.

Aparna Rao, for the former police constable, said Mr Callen was “concerned” about the woman's “true motivation” for accusing him of the offences.

But the panel said TVP itself approached her after it received an anonymous referral.

It heard she initially “expressed some concern that the matter had been taken out of her hands” and that she did not want to report Mr Callen to police.

The panel found that those were “not the actions of an individual who sought to fabricate evidence or pursue some kind of a vendetta or agenda against the officer”.

But Ms Rao said the allegations were “vague as to date” and “lacking in detail”, which hindered Mr Callen's “ability to answer them”.

Parts of the misconduct hearing, which was held last month, were heard in private. Redacted papers were published by TVP on Thursday.

The panel found Mr Callen, who joined TVP in 2000, “realised, or ought to have realised” that his behaviour was “improper”.

It said the public would be “affronted” if he received a sanction other than dismissal.

His behaviour was “intentional and deliberate” and it had to “consider the impact of violence against women and girls”, the panel said.

That, it said, “has been, and continues to be, a matter of local and national concern”.

TVP did not say where Mr Callen, who was firearms trained, previously worked.