A Metropolitan Police detective has been sacked over a sex attack in a Brighton Travelodge hotel room.
Detective Constable Kamal Baldeo shared the room with a woman referred to as “Ms A” on Saturday 8 May 2021 – more than a week before hotels fully reopened from the third national coronavirus lockdown.
The officer, part of the south west area command unit, went out for food and drinks with the woman before they went to his hotel room where some consensual sexual activity occurred.
At a misconduct hearing, it was alleged that the officer asked: “Would it really matter if we had sex?”
Ms A was said to have replied, “yes, it would,” and she made it clear that she did not want to have full sexual intercourse.
The next morning, the hearing was told, further consensual activity took place but it was alleged that Mr Baldeo, despite being told no, had penetrative sex with “without her consent”.
A criminal investigation took place after Ms A reported what had happened but no further action was taken against the officer.
Mr Baldeo accepted that he did have sexual intercourse with Ms A but denied the allegation, saying that it was consensual.
The misconduct panel said in its conclusion: “While the evidence before the panel does not suggest that the officer has a general propensity towards predatory behaviour, the panel is satisfied that on the balance of probabilities, the officer acted as alleged.
“In all the circumstances, the panel found that the officer penetrated Ms A’s vagina with his penis without her consent at all times and she had repeatedly made this clear to him. It therefore found the factual allegations proved.”
The panel found that he had breached police standards of professional behaviour for discreditable conduct proven as gross misconduct and he was dismissed without notice.
Detective Chief Superintendent Clair Kelland, who leads policing in south west London 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.”
