Met Police officer sacked for stalking woman he met on duty

Jonathan Simon was sentenced at Westminster Magistrates' Court

A Metropolitan Police officer who stalked a woman he met while on duty has been sacked.

Jonathan Simon was dismissed after a hearing found his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct.

Simon was given a suspended jail sentence of 16 weeks in April for harassment.

Attached to the Met Police's east area command unit, Simon began dating the woman after meeting her while on duty in May 2021.

After the woman ended the relationship, he repeatedly visited her home, sometimes while working.

He also left her messages and voicemails despite the woman telling him that she did not want to see him any more.

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On one occasion, in August 2021, he visited her home and then her workplace, telling her that her window was unsecured in a bid to get her to speak to him.

The stalking behaviour lasted from October 2021 to July 2022.

In his sentencing remarks at Westminster Magistrates' Court, district judge Daniel Sternberg said Simon's behaviour had brought the Metropolitan Police into disrepute.

Current public concern

A misconduct hearing document, signed by Met Police assistant commissioner Barbara Gray, said: "The public could not have confidence in PC Simon after he has shown himself capable of behaving in such a way.

"I know the public would not have confidence in the Metropolitan Police Service if we appeared not to take a criminal conviction arising from such behaviour seriously."

The document said this is "especially true in the context of the grave and current public concern about police officers as perpetrators of violence against women and girls".

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