A former student police constable (SPC) who followed a woman into a club toilet to have sex with her was fired from the Met Police after a misconduct hearing. SPC Thomas Ioannou, who was 25 at the time, was found to have followed the then 18-year-old woman into the female toilets at Pryzm nightclub in Kingston “with a view to engaging in sexual activity with” her on August 13, 2022.
The woman was deemed to be “vulnerable” due to her age and the fact she was intoxicated. Ioannou was a member of the Met Police at the time but off duty and at the club with a group of other off duty student police officers.
He reportedly followed the woman into the toilet, where they kissed, and he touched her bottom. They then entered a cubicle for seven minutes until security became concerned for their welfare, knocked on the door, and told him to leave.
Ioannou came out apologising and lied that the woman was his girlfriend when he had only met her that evening, the misconduct report said, based on body-worn cameras and CCTV footage. It became clear to security they had only just met and because the woman was “very intoxicated” they called the police at 3.30am, the report said. He denied any allegations of sexual assault.
The panel found this behaviour to be gross misconduct. Ioannou admits he kissed the woman with her consent but he said he did not appreciate she was very drunk. He also maintains he was not being dishonest when he called the woman his girlfriend and was using it in the Cypriot colloquial fashion, referring to a girl who was his friend. However, he accepts his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct.
CCTV showed the woman pointing out the toilet and holding hands with Ioannou as she entered. He hesitated at the door but then followed her in. FSPC Ioannou however claimed that it was she who ushered him into the female toilets and that he was not aware at the time which toilets they had entered. However, the panel dispute this and believe that he ushered her into the toilet.
The panel concluded: “The panel finds the officer’s behaviour in engaging in sexual activity with an intoxicated female in public toilets to be akin to a criminal offence, and likely to undermine trust in the Police Service. The Panel finds that the officer further undermined public confidence in the Police Service by dishonestly informing Pryzm staff that Female A was his girlfriend, when in fact they had only met that night.This further damaged the Force’s reputation in the eyes of the public as a result of the actions of one of its officers.”
Because of their findings, SPC Thomas Ioannou was dismissed without notice from the Met Police by the misconduct panel on December 23. The reasons cited for his dismissal were: to maintain public confidence in and the reputation of the police service, to uphold high standards in policing, to deter misconduct, and to protect the public.
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